Ready for Healthcare Anywhere?
Language should be precise. 'Healthcare Anywhere' is the term I use to describe the massive changes and disruptive convergence that is transforming healthcare dynamics and delivery in the US and around the world. While 'mobile health' begins to describe these changes, it tends to focus on the mobility of the devices and other technologies, and not on the mobility of the people--the patients, caregivers, health care professionals and others who now fit healthcare into their hurried and overscheduled lives.
As articulated by Ernst & Young in 2012, the traditional model for healthcare delivery is characterized by periodic measurement, treatment of disease, opaque decision-making and financing, and control firmly in the hands of providers. However, healthcare is moving from its traditional two places for delivery'the hospital and the doctor's office'to the patient, aided in part by mobile devices and always-on connectivity.
Delivering healthcare to this third place'the patient'relies on continuous monitoring, a focus on prevention, wellness and behavior modification, and transparency in all aspects of care, billing and reimbursement. Healthcare Anywhere also requires a shift in control and responsibility for good health to the patient, and arms him or her with the necessary tools, information and other resources required for improved self-management. As we have seen over the past few decades, one of the main motivators for patients to take more ownership of their own care has been the accelerating trend of rising deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance that have made them painfully aware of how much things cost.
Let's take a look at two areas that are already undergoing significant changes due to the dynamics described above, and consider how we can best position ourselves and our companies for this brave new world:
1. Updating Our Understanding of the Doctor-Patient Dialogue
Technology continues to have a huge impact on what we have historically called the 'Doctor-Patient Dialogue.' The new doctor-patient relationship is longitudinal and multi-channel, with more symmetrical access to the vast sources of online medical knowledge. Think of it'using a smart device from any location, most patients and doctors can now access the same search engines, journals, clinical trial databases and educational modules. A search engine doesn't know if the person entering the query is a doctor or a patient, and it doesn't care. It responds to the same query in the same way, so patients and HCPs are often seeing the same results.
Also, both HCPs and patients are now using tablets and smartphones in the exam room together to tap into these resources and enhance a patient's visit. Some patients are even using their devices to record their conversations with the doctor so they can review them later by themselves or with their families. Patients are also bringing months of biometric data from fitness and medical devices to share with the HCP in order to provide a much richer picture of what is happening between visits.
2. Making Sense of New Technology Purchase & Use Habits