At the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco in April there was obvious and intense interest in the implications for the Health Care industry as a result of developments in Social Networking, Open Standards and Web 2.0 technologies. This prompted me to kick off a series of BarCamp style conferences. The inaugural event was HealthCampMd that was held in June thanks to sponsorship from Near-Time. The next two events are following in September, in close succession. The first HealthCampDc takes place on Friday September 12th in Washington DC at CareFirst's DC offices. A follow on event then takes place the following week as part of the New York Web 2.0 Expo event. That event, HealthCampNy, will be part of the Web 2Open sessions at the Expo. Follow the links to sign up for these events:
Sign up and get involved with the evolution of Health Care where Social Networking, Open Standards and Web 2.0 technologies drive change in the industry. I urge you to become a part of the transformation to a more participatory health care industry.
There is a clear trend in Health Care where the individual has a greater say and a greater role in managing their own health. This is going to trigger structural changes in the industry.
This will be a culture shock for many of the established players. Many of the organizations face significant change. They are facing a world where they are not necessarily in control. Instead individuals will have more control, but with that shift comes changing requirements for the technology that helps Health Care work. Information tools will need to account for the ultimate consumer.
Consumers will look to each other for help and advice. They will need tools to help them assess the quality of information they are receiving. This represents significant opportunity to apply technology in innovative ways. The dynamic nature of this new world will also drive the adoption of Open Standards and Open Source solutions as the demand to connect previously isolated islands of information grows. Proprietary solutions will not have the ability to scale as quickly as the often simpler, open standards can.
I recently attended the Vendor Relationship Management workshop at the Harvard Law School in Boston. It was organized by Doc Searls and is driving strategic thinking about how individuals can be given the tools to interact on an even playing field with the companies they do business with. Attending that conference got me thinking about the application of these approaches to Health Care with the Medical Home concept being an ideal starting point.
Let's continue these discussions at HealthCamp in person and on the web at Wetpaint.
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