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Some more reflections on Health 2.0

Oct 27, 2008• 7

By Matthew Holt H20logo

It’s late at night and I’m red-eye-ing it to Boston to the Partners Center for Connected Health Symposium. Just like at Health 2.0 last week there’s going to be about 1,000 people there. And while originally the session I’m leading on Social Networks was going to be about it for Health 2.0, the agenda has morphed quite a bit and several of the people and players who were on at Health 2.0 are also going to be in Boston. (Although my understanding is that the polite Harvard guys won’t torture them into demoing the way we make them do it!)

That tells you a couple of things. First, smart people think alike. While Connected Health started out as being mainly about remote monitoring and its place in disease management, the core group of consumer-facing tools that make up an increasing share of Health 2.0 are entering into the DM and Connected Health realm. Second, the semi-automated DM systems that are primarily call-center driven are suffering some more realistic expectations compared to the famous $34bn plus forecast from Forrester a while back. And that of course is highly highly related to the perceived failure of Medicare Health Support.

All of this leads to the underlying tension that Health 2.0 puts squarely on the table. Is the future of health care going to be led by self-organizing groups of patients and their representatives, or will it be dominated by technologically-extended versions of the major health care organizations who are now responsible for care delivery?

My suspicion is that the answer is both.

Firefighters attack McCain’s health plan

Oct 27, 2008• 6

By Shuka Kalantari

The International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) recently launched a campaign in support of Senator Obama for president — and an attack on Senator McCain’s health care plan.

The commercial features four firefighters. "Our job is to risk our lives to protect you, and your loved ones. We’re proud of that," one of the firefighters say. "Like you, we need our health care for our families," adds another firefighter.

The IAFF, based in Washington D.C., is a labor union representing approximately 292,000 full-time firefighters and paramedics in the United States and Canada. The commercial will air on local cable networks in New Hampshire, parts of North Carolina, Orlando, St. Louis, parts of Ohio and parts of Virginia.

Renewing SCHIP will be first order of business for Congress in 2009

Oct 27, 2008• 1

By Don Johnson

The first order of business for the new president and congress in 2009 will be renewing SCHIP, the children’s health program, Credit Suisse notes.

Stocks likely to benefit: Amerigroup (AGP), Centene (CNC), Molina Healthcare (MOH) and Wellcare Health Plans (WCG), which all provide managed care services to Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries. Charts for these stocks are here.

Also, congress will deal with a law that would cut by 21% payments to
physicians serving Medicare beneficiaries. The most likely solution
will take money out of Medicare Advantage, which contracts with HMOs to
serve Medicare beneficiaries. This will hurt Coventry (CVH), Humana
(HUM), UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and Wellpoint (WLP). Charts are here.

Full Disclosure: I don’t own any of these stocks. This post first appeared on Johnson’s "The Business Word."

News Stories Explore “Political Sincerity” of Health Care Proposals

Oct 26, 2008• 3

By Christopher Weaver

Health care returned to its rightful place – relative to public opinion – in media coverage over the last few weeks, displacing the war in Iraq and the economy as the number three election issue, according to LexisNexis Analytics.

But during the same time period, people who responded to Kaiser Family Foundation’s October tracking poll, published Tuesday, showed less urgency in their calls for reform than they have in previous months. While it remained among the top three priorities for voters considering their November pick, concern about the economy, and its crisis, pushed down interest in health care reform and Iraq.

To the extent that the presidential campaigns are able to link health care costs to the economic lives of middle class voters, the issue appears useful on the campaign trail, but writers in these last couple of weeks have explored whether significant reform is economically feasible given the declining markets and growing national debt. In particular, doubts about the numbers put forward by both campaigns have been fodder for news articles in the week leading up to the final, Oct. 15 presidential debate. Many reporters’ sources seem skeptical about reform and some stories have questioned the honesty with which the candidates press their overhauls desipte fiscal turmoil.

Health care at risk

Oct 25, 2008• 3

By Jacob Hacker

Jacob S. Hacker is Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of
the Center for Health, Economic, and Family Security at U.C. Berkeley.
He is also a Fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington D.C.

Health reform is moving back to the top of the political agenda. Over the last fifteen years, the biggest problems in U.S. health care—the dwindling reach and generosity of private coverage, the rapid escalation of costs, the uneven quality of care—have all grown substantially worse. Now, we may well finally have a true opportunity to address these problems. What are the big issues at stake? What are the options for reform? And what are the prospects for real change after decades of political defeat?

These are the questions taken up in Health At Risk: America’s Ailing Health System–And How to Heal It, a book I recently put together that features the commentary of some of the nation’s leading experts on health care (plus yours truly). The book is premised on a simple notion: All of us are entitled to our own opinions about health care, but not our own facts.

The chapters in the book — on the uninsured, medical bankruptcy, the quality of American medical care, the consumer-directed health care movement, and the political prospects for reform — carefully examine these facts and offer original ideas for reform. The contributors don’t check their opinions at the door. But they all ground their arguments in the evidence, and express those arguments in clear and straightforward language. In short, the authors are experts who have written their contributions so that they are accessible to interested nonexperts—which, ideally, should include all Americans, so important is this discussion to us all.

Health 2.0 — the morning after…

Oct 24, 2008• 3

By Matthew Holt

The stage is down, the cameras are gone, more than 1,000 people have headed home (other than the 50 or so at the Healthcamp which is happening right now)

some reflections in stream of consciousness fashion….

I think I know why so many people at the un-conference were crowded around the topic “Pharma & Social Networking” (there’s a crowd of companies looking for support and a crowd of Rx companies….….in the breakouts I was amazed that Wellness 2.0, Gaming, & Social Networks had a couldn’t-get-in-the-door-crowd, while Genomics (with many more millions in VC) was much emptier……I loved the videos showing how wild people got at the IDEO session and it was fun to hear Doug Solomon tell the tale……we put our trust in James Mathews (as did his panelists) and, boy, was that repaid—what’s happening outside the US is amazing and James is too…..why is Jon Bush running Athenahealth and not a full-time stand-up comic (props to Chris Lawton for somehow managing to “interview” him!)….how come at the wrap up panel it was five guys all with beards?…..we did lots and lots of preparation for all our demos (thanks Jen!), but we could and should have done more—and demanded more from some presenters. But the ones who demanded the most from us had many of the best demos (yes, Yael & Elif, I do mean you!)…..the exhibit hall was indeed buzzing, rocking, and a hive of exchange—everyone I spoke with said that they had more partnership and customer leads than they could follow up with…..I was stopped by two people who had real live Health 2.0 experiences, their relatives went into hospital during the show, they sought out Health 2.0 companies (PharmaSurveyor was one, DoubleCheckMD another) and stopped mis-diagnoses in its tracks—this dam is bursting and will burst wide open as these clinical tools for consumers get better and better……and then I got this email “How do we keep a breast of H20 developments between conferences? It would be such a drag to miss out.” Can’t imagine what that’s referring to……..But the answer is to use the Health 2.0 Network to keep in touch with everyone else….and of course please remember to download the One Slide from Engage with Grace (we won’t mind you crying when you see the soon to be up Alex Drane’s speech, everyone else did….)

And we’re already ready for the next one April 22–23 in Boston a joint conference between Health 2.0 and the Center for Information Therapy. There’s a one week “conference afterglow special”. This one will only have 500 seats, so it will be sure to sell out early. Register here.

And a few from the press and bloggers. It was a pleasure to see Bill Crounse and on his blog HealthBlog he asks Health 2.0 What are we really building? The New York Times’ Claire Miller wrote about the social networks she saw in one breakout (but there were lots of great ones in the second half too which I hope she’ll write about soon……Craig Stoltz not only ran the search panel like a martinet but had a great article on THCB on the consumers tools panel. (Although due to entirely our bad we didn’t explicitly mention that the second automated call was from Eliza, while the first was from Silverlink)…….Lidija Davis writing in the NY Times and ReadWriteWeb focused on the big 3 and their rules of engagement…..here’s the Google News link to much more.

Much, much more also to come from us in terms of video, audio and replays. And thanks to everyone who came and of course to those who put so much work with me and Indu into the last 2 days and six months. I’m humbled and proud of you all.

And finally we teased our event manager Sara Walker who told us that she couldnt work for the last 3 weeks before the conference as her due date was in November. We said, come on, what could possibly happen? She said, “you never know” (and Ix’s Joi Hawkins stepped in as a great replacement).

Well I’m amused and delighted to report that last night Sara and Mark became the proud parents of Ellie—she came a touch earlier than we all expected but mum and baby are doing really well. Our love to both of them, and our love to Ellie—the newest member of the Health 2.0 community. May what we are all working on make her life and health better. Because, after all, that is the point.

Liveblog Health 2.0: Health-Management Tools for Consumers

Oct 23, 2008• 1

By Craig Stoltz

What
sort of digital tools are available to health consumers to help them
manage the healthinfosphere–and [not to put too fine a point on
it]–their health?

Kevin Noland, CEO, ADAM

iPhone app: the Adam Health Navigator. Puts personalized health
content on iPhone–click a body part on an image of the body, or search
for information. Essentially it puts commodity-level health information
on the small screen. Cool features, some geomobile-related some
leveraging multi-function nature of iPhone: Find nearest ER; prompt to
call 911; educational videos for conditions; connect to doctors in your
neighborhood.

David Clymer, CEO, MyMedLab

Web-based tool lets you choose a lab test online. A physician
approves order instead of a doctor’s visit in real life. You can find a
lab in your area. The tools help you choose tests based on gender, age
and disease profile. Results interpreted by an MML doctor and put in
your PHR. Key detail: Results can be completely confidential.

Health 2.0–Day 2, 3 Health 2.0 CEOs

Oct 23, 2008• 2

By Matthew Holt

So it’s Day 2 and I’m taking 2 minutes that I don’t have to comment on an amazing
morning.

Jon Bush from AthenaHealth was interviewed (sort of!) by Chris Lawton. He is absolutely hilarious — anyone who can have an audience in stitches about the 67 faxes each day that go into every medial office in America should be in politics! I wont say more but we’re really looking forward to posting the video.

Dan Palestrant talked with David Hamilton about Sermo’s big new deal with Bloomberg. Health 2.0 meets 280,000 financial analysts. And about Google Adwords not being a business model, and how that’s OK with doctors. (Although I keep telling Daniel, it is a business model for Google.)

Finally, Kerry Hicks from HealthGrades allowed Michael Millenson to tease out of him that if you go to a 1-star hospital you have a 70 percent higher chance of dying from a hospitalization than gong to a 5 star hospital. That, Michael suggested, might be a rating that really matters!

Sermo and Bloomberg announce strategic partnership

Oct 23, 2008

By Sarah Arnquist

Sermo

Sermo and Bloomberg announced a new partnership Thursday at Health 2.0 to provide financial investors with instant access to medical information via The Healthcare Exchange.

Sermo CEO Daniel Palestrant said this partnership will allow investors to tap into the wisdom of Sermo’s 90,000 physician members. To learn more go here.

More news at Health 2.0

HealthGrades announced Wednesday that it will become the exclusive provider of physician and hospital quality information for Yahoo Health, which will incorporate HealthGrades data into a new search-driven directory.

American Well and ActiveHealth Management announced a collaboration to combine ActiveHealth’s CareEngine analytics with American Well’s Online Care System.

Private Access and Envoii
Health announced a partnership to create online products to recruit
participants for research and clinical trials. On Private Access,
people can describe their
health matters and maintain precise control over who has access to the
records. You can set parameters for what people see and how you want to
be contacted.

Organized Wisdom CEO Steven Krein said his company will soon move into the physician search arena.

Engage With Grace

Oct 23, 2008• 7

By Sarah Arnquist

If there was something you could do to improve end-of-life-care in the United States, and it only took two minutes, and everybody did it, would there be a transformation?

Alexandra Drane, president of Eliza Corp., and Matthew Holt think so. That’s why
they’ve created "Engage With Grace" the one-slide project.

They believe that if everyone took two minutes at the end of every presentation to show this slide that asks five basic — but critical — questions transformation could occur. In times of tragedy, families would experience less anxiety, knowing their loved one’s wishes are being met.

Matthew and Alexandra ask that you download the slide, start a viral movement, have these conversations and transform end-of-life care. To learn more visit Engage with Grace, where you can download the one slde, register for free, learn how to start the conversation and store your answers to the questions.