Patients now have more tools than ever before to assess and manage their health.
So how are these advanced technologies playing out with payers and providers?
In addition to the widespread use of electronic medical records (EMRs), payers and providers are also increasingly relying on solutions from innovative companies to help them deliver better care based on value not volume.
Castlight Health is helping self-insured companies like Safeway shine the light on previously opaque information, such as out-of-pocket procedure costs at different facilities. By increasing transparency, employees can “know your costs before you go” and better manage their health budgets.
Other self-insured companies (including AT&T and Intel) have banded together to offer a personal health record through Dossia. Because the record belongs to the employee, it “changes jobs” when they do and provides clinicians with a longitudinal picture of their health.
In addition to the obvious data quality increase, it also eliminates the administrative burden on providers. Future plans, and an example of a major trend, is to provide a platform that provides a 360 degree view of health including data such as pharmacy pickups and data from personal health tracking devices such as Nike’s FitBit, Zeo’s Sleep Coach, etc.
Senior living providers are leveraging tablet and touch screen technologies developed through a joint venture between GE & Intel. Known as Care Innovations Connect, the product keeps seniors healthy by collecting basic biometrics and then recommending actions based on a defined protocol.
For example, if a patient has gained weight, a video might pop up talking about cutting back on fluids. The product also uses social networking technologies to keep seniors connected and combat loneliness, a major health risk factor in this population.
GE plans to complement and expand the product’s capabilities by employing smart sensors throughout the home and living areas.
So what technologies can we expect to see featured at next year’s Health 2.0 conference?
Here’s a hint.
23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki says that genetics will soon be integrated into everything that we do.
Stay tuned.
