Who Will Be The Netflix Of Healthcare? - InformationWeek

InformationWeek is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them.Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

CIO Insights & Innovation
Security & Risk Strategy
Team Building & Staffing
IT Strategy
Digital Business
Project Management
Programming Languages
Dr. Dobb's
Enterprise Applications
Operating Systems
Productivity/Collaboration Apps
Network Security
Careers & People
Threat Intelligence
IoT
Attacks & Breaches
Application Security
Cloud Security
Endpoint Security
Mobile Security
Perimeter Security
Risk Management
Operations Security
Analytics
Vulnerabilities & Threats
Security & Risk Strategy
Infrastructure as a Service
Platform as a Service
Software as a Service
Cloud Storage
Data Centers
Mobile Applications
Mobile Devices
Mobile Business
Enterprise Mobility Management
AI/Machine Learning
Big Data Analytics
Hardware/Architectures
Software Platforms
IoT
Networking
Wireless Infrastructure
Data Centers
Cloud Infrastructure
Careers and Certifications
Network Security
Government
Healthcare
Wall Street & Technology
Bank Systems & Technology
Insurance & Technology
Industries
Government
Healthcare
Wall Street & Technology
Bank Systems & Technology
Insurance & Technology
IT Life
Careers
Mobile
Mobile Applications
Mobile Devices
Mobile Business
Enterprise Mobility Management
Software
Enterprise Applications
Operating Systems
Productivity/Collaboration Apps
Healthcare // Leadership
Commentary
9/24/2014
09:06 AM
David F Carr
David F Carr
Commentary
Connect Directly
LinkedIn
Google+
Twitter
RSS
5 comments
Comment Now

Who Will Be The Netflix Of Healthcare?

Healthcare disruption is real, the MediFuture event showed. How you react determines whether it's a threat or an opportunity.

(Source: HealthSpot)
(Source: HealthSpot)

Comment  | 
Print  | 
Comments
Newest First  |  Oldest First  |  Threaded View
Ariella
50%
50%
Ariella,
 User Rank: Author
9/30/2014 | 2:46:56 PM
Re: Islands of Automation
@David It may not be worth it to them, as HIPPA compliance is a major headache that likely requires a team of specially trained lawyers. 
PaulN723
50%
50%
PaulN723,
 User Rank: Apprentice
9/25/2014 | 1:05:52 AM
A Customer facing app - one app to bring them all, and in the wellness bind them. ZibdyHealth
There is so much stuff out there about sensors and apps to plan your meals and so-on. Obviously EHRs hold hospital and clinic data about the patient - but there is a real lack in patient facing apps which hold the medical data about a patient - and the patient's family. This is the sort of data that would really benefit so many of these apps looking for this partner or that partner. ZibdyHealth is just such an app, holding a patient's medications list, conditions, vitals and so on. Patients would benefit hugely by having this app as their central repositry for their personal medical health info, and being able to integrate with the various sensor etc. apps put there.
Lorna Garey
50%
50%
Lorna Garey,
 User Rank: Author
9/24/2014 | 5:16:27 PM
Re: Islands of Automation
I love this line: "When Slywotzky asked if there were any hassles in healthcare or health insurance that we all might want to do away with, the reaction from the audience was nervous laughter."

I'd be nervous too if Wal-Mart and Google were both gunning for my business model. 
David F. Carr
50%
50%
David F. Carr,
 User Rank: Author
9/24/2014 | 2:55:32 PM
Re: Islands of Automation
Well, part of the point of the conference was that these gadgets and apps are worth more if aggregated together and that tech firms ought to be partnering with each other and with healthcare firms to assemble them into a greater whole. From a technologist's perspective, the danger is that this results in a horde of one-off interfaces and proprietary APIs. So standards will need to emerge, whether de facto or formal.

I mentioned The Activity Exchange as one firm tying together healthcare data from multiple sources, and bigger players are targeting this, too.

WebMD, which has an established brand as a portal for consumer health info, wants to make a play here by also being a repository for aggregated health inf. Of course, that means they will have to wade deeper into the territory of managing personal health info and complying with HIPAA etc, which they haven't had to deal with before now.
Gary_EL
50%
50%
Gary_EL,
 User Rank: Ninja
9/24/2014 | 1:48:00 PM
Islands of Automation
I don't think it will be quite the same thing for health care as it was or will be for most other industries. No one is a bigger fan of EHR than I am. I recently made a visit to the ER, and I was happy to find out the next day that my primary had the information at his fingertips, and that not only was I scheduled for a quick trip to a specialist, but that office, too, had the relevant info at hand. That's progress. That's great.

These health monitors that you mention will be of limited efficacy. Most of the people I know who refuse to manage their diabetes or simply will not diet or exercise will not suddenly modify their behavior because of electronic warnings. I'm told by health care providers that the monitors that exist so far are still too inaccurate and unreliable to be of much use anyway, but of course, it's a lot easier to improve electronic devices than it is to improve human behavior.

What we have now is a repeat of the "islands of automation" syndrome of the 1980's. In the present case, hospital A has a great EHR system and so does hospital B. The problem is that they don't communicate at all with each other. Resolving that is the real issue.
Editors' Choice
Commentary
Enterprise Guide to Digital Transformation
Cathleen Gagne, Managing Editor, InformationWeek,  8/13/2019
Slideshows
IT Careers: How to Get a Job as a Site Reliability Engineer
Cynthia Harvey, Freelance Journalist, InformationWeek,  7/31/2019
Commentary
AI Ethics Guidelines Every CIO Should Read
Guest Commentary, Guest Commentary,  8/7/2019
White Papers
Register for InformationWeek Newsletters
Video
Current Issue
Data Science and AI in the Fast Lane
This IT Trend Report will help you gain insight into how quickly and dramatically data science is influencing how enterprises are managed and where they will derive business success. Read the report today!
Download This Issue!
Slideshows
Flash Poll