From the 2014 mHealth Summit they had 4 “take-aways” – all four were ones that we have heard before and ones that we should be listening to.
I’ll start with the easy one, in my opinion – (and their #1 on the list) – Consumer Engagement is the buzzword. I’ve been talking about this one off and on for a while. We are a culture that is becoming more informed. We have access to health information much more easily than those who have come before us. Google, WebMD, and just about any health related organization, such as providers and support sites. For me, personally, I am paying attention to more on the Breast Cancer site than before because my mom is fighting breast cancer. And we’ve talked before about access to your own health information and how we all want to see what our health record looks like and find out what did the doctor realllly say in my last visit with him/her?
The next one, in my numbering system, is that Apple’s HealthKit could be a game changer. I’m still waiting on this one. It could be the game changer – I hope it is the game changer. Basically, it could connect all those wonderful health apps to the Apple Health and keep all the nifty data there for us.
Well, that brings me to my favorite of the 4 – data analysis! Now, I hope I don’t lose my non-nerd friends on this one (as my kiddos would say). I am blessed to have just started a job with a company that provides data analytics to health providers. And, let me say, WOW, I am excited! This is the meat of it all! We have sooooooooo much information on our health, health standards, metrics for health measurement and just oodles and bunches of good stuff that can help us monitor our health as individuals and as communities! We are capturing data in mobile devices, devices worn on the body, devices used in the practice of health care, electronic health records and even in the data that our insurance company holds on us – well, except Anthem – they can’t seem to hold onto our information…. (sarcasm). This is great stuff. It is time we put it to good use!
And that leads to the last of the 4 – Care Coordination works! – Why, yes, Sherlock, it does. If my care providers know what is going on with me, my labs, my meds and my tests then I get better care – or I should expect better care. More effective care. If I make sure that my nutritionist knows that my iron levels came in low on my last blood tests that my general practitioner ordered then I get better guidance on my diet. You can see where I am going here…
So – what do you see in store for mHealth in 2015?
Filed under: Found in the world lately... Tagged: access to patient information, Apple, Apple HealthKit, care coordination, consumer, consumer driven, consumer engagement, data analytics, mHealth, patient access to clinician notes, patient access to information
