Tuesday, October 06, 2009

#health2con - Can Health 2.0 make Healthcare more affordable

Live blogging from Health 2.0 Conference. Excuse the stream of consciousness.

Interesting after having spent time at HealthCampToronto. Cost isn't the only focus. In Canada the issue would be Can Health 2.0 make Health Care more Accessible.

Moderator: Michael Millenson, Health 2.0 Advisers

Panelists:
- Al Waxman, Psilos
- Luke Mitchell, Harper's Magazine
- Maggie Mahar, The Century Foundation & Health Beat Blog
- JD Kleinke, JDK Online

Health 2.0:

1. User Generated Health Care
2. Users connect to providers
3. Partnerships to reform delivery
4. Data drives decisions and discovery

Al Waxman:

Health 2.0 won't make health care more affordable. Just like the Internet didn't save the economy.

The acid test - does an idea save money and/or improve quality.

Maggie Mahar: (the author behind the book that triggered http://moneydrivenmedicine.org

Health 2.0 won't save money unless we can persuade people that less health care is better care.
Skeptical about consumer driven medicine.

We don't do a good job of managing our money so how will we deal with a more complicated subject - health care

Luke Mitchell:

Wrote article for Harper's on sending a civilian in to the health care system.
Discovery: a new project in the works for 10 years " An integrated network" Collect all the data, analyze and feed back to provide best practice health care.

People with opinions make choices. This is what creates systems - they don't appear by magic.

JDK:
Health 2.0 is about putting one stake in the ground to limit the number of variables. It is the democratization of health care information.
Behavior modification comes through availability of information.

Health 2.0 may drive up costs in short term. in mid term costs drop through prevention. In long term costs rise due to longer life.

[Me] Does this mean that we should just encourage people to party and die happy????

Al Waxman:
Our checking account belongs to us. Shouldn't our Health Record?

Maggie M:
Maggie Mahar: Hospitals are dangerous places. Knowledgeable Patients avoid hospital

10% of death risk in the poor is from lack of access to health care
40% of death risk is due to lack of knowledge about implications of behavior.

Given the 90%+ penetration of mobiles in the USA we can reach the poor in our communities.

Al W:
There is a difference between Health Care System and Health Insurance

JDK:
Health 2.0 can move away from waste and errors. We don't negotiate because there is no prive transparency.

Mahar M:
Did you know 90% of people who smoke suffer at least one form of mental illness.

Question: Can Health 2.0 help sharing across teams?

Al W: Virtual Accountable Care Organization - Quality goes up and cost comes down. Chronic Disease management is a team sport.

JDK: Optimistic about transparency of information

Al W: Lowering admin costs is important and possible

Maggie M: Use this technology so doctors can collaborate together and with the patient.

Posted via email from ekivemark's posterous