Wireless Medical Blog
Health2.0 Device and service blurs the lines with telehealth
By Vaishali Kamat - Last updated: Monday, April 19, 2010Health2.0 has several definitions, but at its core has been the use of web2.0 consumer techniques to deliver health services online. The techniques and tools of Facebook turned to patient communities, or the recommendations systems of Amazon used to assist in the selection of treatment. “liked Ventolin? why not try Serevent?” or “Patients rated your surgeon at 3stars want to find a better surgeon?”
A number of companies such as Patientslikeme have emerged in this sector and have real potential to change the role of the patient in their own healthcare from passive bystander to actively engaged. Likewise tools such as Sermo have the potential to empower the doctor to access the knowledge of an entire community. A recent study shows that internet access is less prevalent among chronic disease sufferers, so medical information through a web browser has a significant hurdle to be successful.
I attended the first Health2.0 conference in San Francisco in 2007 and at the time I felt there was a noticable absence of medical device, and pharmaceutical companies present. Now in 2009 Health2.0 has hosted its first conference in Europe, and the picture appears to be shifting. In the opening presentation of the Conference the organisers noted the connection between these services and consumers was moving beyond the browser. The example given was RX Vitality Glowcaps, a clever little pill bottle that can connect with an on-line service to remind you to take your medication and to monitor when you access the bottle. While the concept of monitoring medication and reminders is not new the execution of the product is excellent and the company are doing well in commercialising their concept.
The product is similar in concept to the Asthma medication monitor demonstrated by Cambridge Consultants in 2009. The Vena inhaler uses our Continua Health alliance stack to connect medication devices to online health services, and we also looked at new business models that could emerge. (medication monitoring presentation as pdf)
Both these products are collecting data from the consumer in a relevant context, and then using web technology to offer a complete service. There are no browsers in sight, and there is no manual data entry. It is this level of simplicity in the user interface, and sophistication of the service that is required for large scale success of health products. This is achieveable today by adding wireless connectivity to your device. Something that my colleagues demonstrated with their internet connected consumer products.
So is this telehealth (remote monitoring and advice) or Health2.0 ? I think that they will emerge to be part of the same solution.
Why are telehealth hubs so expensive? » Wireless Medical Said,
April 27, 2010 @ 5:58 pm
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