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| Patient "connectedness" in healthcare & the future of consumerism |
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| Written by Eugene Borukhovich |
| Wednesday, 11 February 2009 21:45 |
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“How Everything is connected to Everything Else and what it means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life”. That is the title of a book that I am reading. The book was written by Albert – Laszlo Barabasi whose scientific, yet completely comprehensible writing, in this book goes through the science of networks. His delicate comparison between social networks, enterprises as well as individuals reveals why this social networking phenomenon is on the rise. I recently read on Jeff Pulver’s blog and old saying: “Next person you meet may change your life”….How true!!! You may ask how do these statements above apply to healthcare? I sat in during a panel on “Wall Street, the new Administration and the Healthcare Economy”. No, I was not on the panel, but paid money to be present in the audience – was worth every dollar. It was a very well organized event with some heavyweight representation from leaders in the Healthcare field across Finance, clinical and policy organizations. I do not want to disclose who said what and will leave that to the WSJ reporters that hosted the conference but one thing stood out for me: “Consumerism in Healthcare” was missing in the initial panel discussion. These thought leaders disagreed (very politely) on a number of issues such as government-control vs. free market forces, but one thing they did agree on is the fact that it will be an uphill battle for the Obama administration and any healthcare reform, especially with Tom Daschle gone form that post. Next logical question arises: “So will patients continue waiting on the government to solve all the issues or will they take it in their own hands?” I rephrased my question to the panel: “Given your agreement on the difficult task ahead, what do you think the state of consumerism is in healthcare?”. I was told that it is an oxymoron and only 8% of the population is capable of making a decision about their health. Consumerism in healthcare is on the bottom of the S-curve. I actually took that as a positive sign – we – the innovators in the Health 2.0 field will wait till “the influencers”, the “thought leaders” as described in Barabasi’s book are ready to “influence a very large number of people” (p.130, Barabasi). That ride up the S-curve, in my mind, will be quick and I strongly believe that community platforms that enable the patients to share information and learn from each other will turn the 8% into a much greater number!! |
| Last Updated on Saturday, 30 May 2009 15:56 |
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