John@ChilmarkResearch

23 Aug 2008 12:07 AM

Peter,

The points you make certainly are reflective of what Diamond and Shirky laid out in their Health Affairs paper. Like you, I whole-heartedly agree with their sentiments and arguments. To date, much of the HIT efforts at the federal level have been focused on the wrong things.

And while I do agree with the premise of your post, let's give consumers what they need to better manage their health, the post seems to gloss over a very real problem today and that is simply getting the consumer engaged in the first place. Sure, their is a segment of the population that is already there but it is a very small minority. There is a far larger segment of the populace that needs to "get religion." As you well know, how we get there from here will be a long road less traveled, but one we both believe is worth taking.

But beyond getting the consumer engaged, we must also address the calcified healthcare system with its perverse incentives and vested interests, let alone just getting the medical establishment comfortable with the consumer having some control of their health data. The more I think abut it the more I believe that it will be on this battlefront that we will face the most significant challenges moving forward.

Peter Durkson

8 Sep 2008 3:15 AM

Aloha Peter,

We concur that the "consumer" needs to be engaged.

If one views 75 million baby boomers as potential consumers of emerging digital tools which can empower them to age in place and manage their health and caregiving issues, than we think the adoption rate will be faster than many people anticipate.

We'll soon find out in 2009 when we move off the drawing boards into the healthcare ecosystem on Maui.

( see http://www.mauiagewave.com/content/our-connecting-care-map-evolves ).

We'll be leaning on your blog to help us!

Bert Verhees

14 Sep 2008 7:56 PM

"It's about the patient - not about the standards. Value in the form of patient care and business results can be improved by moving/reusing the data already in the system! There is no need to wait for 'standards'. Ultimately we need to be focused on solutions that provide value to patients….better quality of care."

I must disagree on this. It is an old discussion. Standarized storage and messaging of healthcare related data is good for patients. It makes data clear, unambiguous, save. It gives a patient a chance to switch from healthcare provider, using another software solution.

There is no need to wait for standards, there are standards in the domain of HL7 and CEN 13606. Why not use them?

Imagine following statement was done by a vendor of business-software, it would immediately be clear that standards are an advantage, not a burden to customers (patients)

"It's about the customer - not about the standards. Value in the form of customer care and business results can be improved by moving/reusing the data already in the system! There is no need to wait for 'standards'. Ultimately we need to be focused on solutions that provide value to customers….better quality of business."