User generated health–Health 2.0
Since "Web 2.0" became a big buzz, we’ve heard a lot about user-generated…everything. Blogs, YouTube and on and on. Well, that now extends as an attitude about health and health information. Some of the biggest heavies in the info-space are getting into the act. There’s a good article in the NYTimes today about Drs. Google and Microsoft. Here’s a few excerpts:
…two leading candidates for Web supremacy, Google and Microsoft, are working up their plans to improve the nation’s health care.
By combining better Internet search tools, the vast resources of the
Web and online personal health records, both companies are betting they
can enable people to make smarter choices about their health habits and
medical care. (emphasis added)“What’s behind this is the mass consumerization of
health information,” said Dr. David J. Brailer, the former health
information technology coordinator in the Bush administration, who now
heads a firm that invests in health ventures. [...]Microsoft’s software animates more than 90 percent of all personal
computers, while Google is the default starting point for most health
searches. And people are increasingly turning to their computers and
the Web for health information and advice. A Harris poll, published
last month, found that 52 percent of adults sometimes or frequently go
to the Web for health information, up from 29 percent in 2001.The Google and Microsoft initiatives would give much more control to
individuals, a trend many health experts see as inevitable. “Patients
will ultimately be the stewards of their own information,” said John D.
Halamka, a doctor and the chief information officer of the Harvard
Medical School.Already the Web is allowing people to take a
more activist approach to health. According to the Harris survey, 58
percent of people who look online for health information discussed what
they found with their doctors in the last year.A prototype of Google Health, which the company has shown to health
professionals and advisers, makes the consumer focus clear. The welcome
page reads, “At Google, we feel patients should be in charge of their
health information, and they should be able to grant their health care
providers, family members, or whomever they choose, access to this
information. Google Health was developed to meet this need.”A
presentation of screen images from the prototype — which two people who
received it showed to a reporter — then has 17 other Web pages
including a “health profile” for medications, conditions and allergies; a personalized “health guide” for suggested treatments, drug interactions and diet
and exercise regimens; pages for receiving reminder messages to get
prescription refills or visit a doctor; and directories of nearby
doctors. [...]Microsoft will not disclose its product plans, but according to
people working with the company the consumer effort will include online
offerings as well as software to find, retrieve and store personal
health information on personal computers, cellphones and other kinds of
digital devices — perhaps even a wristwatch with wireless Internet
links some day.Mr. Shihadeh declined to discuss specifics, but
said, “We’re building a broad consumer health platform, and we view
this challenge as far bigger than a personal health record, which is
just scratching the surface.”
Of course there are drawbacks like privacy, encryption, and trust that the article points to. But, for my money, health care information consumerization is one the the very top trends we’ll see over the next decade and one the Society needs to be engaged with. After all, the phrase "make smarter choices about their health habits and
medical care" (from second quoted para above) is practically a direct quote from one of our roles and responsibilities.
