Syndicom

Happenings in the health 2.0 world…..

I read a lot of health 2.0 related material and recently three things have caught my eye which I think are relevant to changes we may begin to see in healthcare soonish. First, the number of health 2.0 consumers has jumped; second, I wanted to share a recent entrant into this space — icyou – which provides health related videos across the web, and finally, Intel released a new gadget this week which I think might be interesting not only for caring for chronic conditions but also post-operative care from a distance. I look forward to hearing your thoughts…..:)

First, last week, Manhattan Research released their latest study on health 2.0 consumers which apparently now number over 60 million US adults! A health 2.0 consumer is defined as anyone who has “conducted one of the following activities in the past 12 months: read health-related blogs, message boards or participated in health-related chat rooms; contributed or posted health content online such as: writing or commenting on a health-related blog, adding or responding to a topic in a forum or group, or creating health related web pages, videos or audio content; used online patient support groups, message boards, chatrooms, or blogs.” This is twice the number of people doing the same thing last year with a person’s condition driving them more than any other variable to engage in health related social media. You might think that this does not apply to our SpineConnect members, but in fact, it might be interesting to ask your patients next time you see them, if they have ever got information off the web about their condition. As Meredith Abreu Ressi, Manhattan Research Vice President of Research states, “social media is changing the way that consumers gather health information from the Internet. Patients and caregivers are no longer limited to static resources but are now sharing advice and treatment experiences online.”

Second, I have been wanting to introduce icyou.com to this blog for some time because I think it might be an interesting resource for your practices, institutions as well as patients. Icyou provides healthcare video on demand — see an example here with Ted Eytan, MD reporting from the health 2.0 conference. Videos range from scientific results, providers detailing procedures and patients’ experiences of same procedures, to diets, recipes, tips etc. Anyone can load a video – patient and/or provider. There is also the Pulse which is their community where you can participate in blogs, vlogs, comment etc. So next time you find yourself wanting to share something – grab a camera and shoot!

Finally, I have always been a huge fan of telemedicine and remote care. My passion for the topic comes partly from my commitment to rural health, but also partly from my commitment to increasing the awareness of patients of their own health. Telemedicine and all its variations are notoriously complex and expensive, as well as technologically challenging for some providers. But Intel released news this week that it has begun pilot programs for its Health Guide which consists of a home health laptop, application and database system that ” puts patients remotely in sync with their health care providers.”

Health care providers can program, administer, and monitor the system remotely via an online connection to the device. If you need it to, the laptop can activate at a specific time every day and sound a reminder chime. Once the patient responds, he or she is automatically run through a series of questions and prompts that can include taking vitals. Depending on a patient’s needs, things like blood pressure cuffs and glucose measuring tools are already connected to the machine. Patients are given step-by-step instructions on how to use them. Patients themselves will be responsible for inputting their medical data and following any medical instructions using a touch-screen interface which should be easy for even the least tech-savvy to use.

The device is also capable of video conferencing which I think is amazing although I wonder who is going to walk folks through that whole new way of communicating which has been a substantial stumbling block to remote care in the past. Intel says it is partnering with both the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association to provide medical assessments, treatment guidelines and educational multimedia content. For the providers, Intel is hoping to introduce a ‘management by exception’ approach as they will only intervene if something untoward is received on the screen.

Obviously Intel is aiming at care for chronic conditions, but based on my own experience in genetics clinics, I wondered about care over the long term in terms of post-op care, evolutionary changes or degenerating conditions etc. The technology is cool but behind it lies a real transformation in our understandings of the care partnership. Could you imagine any of your patients using something like this based on spinal conditions?

Together we rise! Look forward to hearing from you….!

With thanks to dwyman and Marston A for their images!

Kirsten Broadfoot