1. Healthcare, Technology and Government: The Side Effects
In the grand plan to simultaneously jumpstart healthcare and job creation, President
Obama declared just last Monday that the federal government will spend $1 billion in
funding programs that cultivate better care for patients. Don Berwick, Head of the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, explained:
“With the healthcare innovation challenge, we're going straight to the source," Berwick
said during a news conference for the announcement. "We want to find them, we want to
help them, we want to spread what they know and what they've learned."
As we’ve learned with Google Health and the cease of personal healthcare record services, the
amount of funds doesn’t equate to the success of an endeavor. Neither does a big
business name, nor major deals with insurers and companies like CVS, amongst other
seemingly positive things that Google Health had going for them. Ultimately, the survival
of a venture relies solely with the democracy, not how it’s backed — which is good news.
This just serves as a lesson to those still left in the game that it is important to focus on
what the healthcare industry needs. This is where healthcare technology startups have
made their way into the picture.
True to the startup nature, healthcare technology startups are keen on taking care of
what matters which in this case are the patients. For example, ZocDoc offers patient
insight to doctors’ schedules and when appointment availability opens up. People are
also able to book appointments with medical professionals, free of charge to the patient,
through the New York startup’s website. By supplying basic information such as the zip
code and the type of doctor you are looking for, ZocDoc populates medical professionals
nearest you, displays patient-generated reviews and more. Patients are able to schedule
within 24 hours of an appointment, resulting in less time in the waiting room. ZocDoc
saw a need and creatively filled it. Other healthcare technology startups can really learn from
ZocDoc. ZocDoc’s service, combined with the mobile application, makes the simple
process even easier for the patient.
Read more: http://technorati.com/technology/article/healthcare-technology-and-
government-the-side/#ixzz1gaMu9vxv