Space, place and health 2.0….
As I wrote earlier on this blog, one of the most liberating facets of web 2.0 technologies is their disruptive influence on the time-space continuum. This facet of their nature, coupled with the need to reach patients where they are, how they are, in remote, rural or just dispersed locations gave birth to the telemedicine movement into which web 2.0 has breathed new life. Recently, I have been surveying this whole new world…. behold, health 2.0 goes into the wilds of the web…..!!
First up, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn from HealthPopuli reports on a new report out of the California Health Care Foundation called Right Here Right Now: Ten Telehealth Pioneers Make It Work where Dr. Jay Sanders states, “the exam room is wherever the patient is.” Jane reports also that Forrester has released their new study on telehealth ( defined more broadly than telemedicine) and the adoption of “anytime, anywhere health.” The report entitled, Delivering Care Anytime, Anywhere: Telehealth Alters the Medical Ecosystem, outlines the existing conditions now ripe for telehealth and how healthcare reform will be accomplished. While licensing, privacy and reimbursement concerns seem to have made their way over to this new model of m-health as well, they are now countered by increasing technological prowess on the part of physicians, the increasing ubiquity of Internet connectivity and some very real provider shortages. Connected health is better for all, Sarasohn-Kahn reports, for patients, providers and our communities. So bring on the new m-primary care physician!
Enter….American Well and its determination to “reinvent the house call”. Claire Cain Miller of the New York Times reported last week, that in an effort to decrease the amount of time patients were waiting to see a doctor or have them return their call, or have to interrupt their working day to schedule said interaction, American Well offers live interaction to patients and providers….. anywhere….anytime….over webcam! Yes, the doctor CAN see you now! For Dr Roy Schoenberg, American Well’s co-founder and chief executive, it is “talking to the doctor” that grounds all health care. So much so, that this aspect of “access” which is also at the very heart of web 2.0, is what is driving same executive’s and enterprise’s revisioning of health insurance. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii, in January 2009, will offer patients virtual visits with its doctors. Other states and health plans, yet to be announced, will also activate it in 2009. Members of these plans will pay a co-pay as they would at the office; doctors hold 10 minute appointments which can be extended for extra and file prescriptions through the system. Patients benefit from receiving continuous care from a doctor who knows them and if they are not available, they receive a report from the attending doctor at the time. Uninsured people can use the system as well for less than $50. American Well does all the admin; doctors end up with a few extra dollars and AIG provides malpractice insurance to doctors for which health plans pay. It doesn’t get much better than that!
Finally, something about space and place that is slightly different. Here we return to our carbon world, where, according to Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, urban planners and landscape architects are public health professionals. Yes, you read that right! Jane summarizes the latest findings from a study published in the Lancet, on the effect of the natural environment on health inequities by Scottish researches in public health and geography. Green spaces are good for our health, no matter how big or how small. Something about them makes us want to move, which in itself is not a bad thing. While the study does not go into specific health outcomes, it seems that access to green spaces lowers health inequities, especially as they manifest in circulatory disease. So go for a walk after that pumpkin pie!
Giving thanks this week, for all the superb work you do for people!
Wonderful images provided by boliston and lrargerich- thanks for your beauty!
Kirsten Broadfoot
Tags: American Well, continuous care, green spaces, health 2.0, health inequities, health insurance, Lancet, m-health, public health, space, telehealth, telemedicine, virtual visits, web 2.0
