1. When you are at the crossroads of newer mobile technology
adoption and vendor enthusiasm in healthcare, it’s hard to
find...by Jim Bloedau of Information Advantage Group
A recent blog by Eric Dishman of Intel, called for a sobering
from highly animated claims of breakthrough innovations
around mobile applications in healthcare (mHealth) that so
many are promising. Paul impassionedly stated:
“Our cultural obsession with the mHealth "gadget" of the
moment (perpetuated in press clipping after press clipping
which tries to out-shock the audience by showing what is
technically possible) leaves us with a cheap, one-night stand
with these technologies whereas we need a more sustained,
meaningful relationship with (and through) them.”
Agreed, we are in a mHealth hype cycle. All too rapidly this
will subside leaving behind some great thoughts and lessons including: for healthcare, long-term
sustainability of value will define the tech instead of short-term impulses like “fun and cool for the
always-on (age 18-34).”
According to Deloitte’s 2010 Survey of Health Care Consumers, a proportionally weighted
sampling of 1000 consumers per six countries practicing western medicine, reported the US
leads with:
 57 percent of respondents wanting to access their doctors and health records online,
 50 percent saying they want a personal monitoring device that helps them improve their
health and most importantly,
 twice as many Gen-X (born ’60s-’80s) and Gen–Y (born ‘80s-‘90s) consumers want to access
and maintain their records using a mobile device than do Baby Boomers and Seniors.
Combine this with a long-term upswing in
multigenerational households and the common profile
of a family member caring for an older member being a
woman in her late forties through fifties with one child
still at home, and we begin to see the long-term value
that needs to be created.
Some will always see great gadgets and gizmos as
being needed because, simply put, they’re fun.
However, most will seek the astonishingly exciting new
mobile devices and associated systems that reach out
to those suffering from chronic illness and family
caregivers helping them to have a better life.
When you are at the crossroads of newer technology adoption and vendor
enthusiasm in healthcare, it’s hard to find unanimity.
Photo credit: Jim Mazzola