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.

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.

Continue reading…

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!

By Alvaro Fernandez

A spate of recent global news coverage on cognitive fitness and "brain training" reflects
a growing interest in innovative interventions to keep our brains sharp as we age. This interest is very timely, given an aging population, the increasing prevalence of Alzheimer’s, and the growing body of research linking a number of clinical conditions with specific cognitive deficits.

US brain fitness market: significant and growing

We estimate the size of the US brain fitness market was $225m in 2007 – more than double what it was in 2005. Consumers were responsible for most of the growth from 2005 to 2007, followed by health care and insurance providers. We estimate that the consumer segment grew from a few million in 2005 to $80m in 2007, and the health care/ insurance one from $35m to $65m, and foresee continued growth in both.

Continue reading…

By Craig Stoltz

Five companies that are leaders in making consumer data, including personal health records, available.

Web MD: Just did a deal with Wal-Mart, making WebMD
personal health records and tools available to employees. Proof that
health technology adoption is moving “from the salaried workers to the
hourly workers.”

Comment: Includes a PHR for members to use.

HealthVault, Microsoft: Now has developed 90-plus
partners making products for the platform. Seeking to make it easier
for doctors and patients to share information. HealthVault launch is
part of a “long journey” in integrating information for consumers and
with healthcare system. Have created an “industry” around making these
connections happen. New partnership with Kaiser, integrating its own
PHR service with the HV platform. Process to copy Kaiser health record
to HealthVault is multi-step and multi-click box/policy agreement
process–not a smooth demo. Multiple sign-outs and sign-ins.

Comments: The demo failed–yikes. The conference gives him a “do-over”. . .and that fails too. Dude: Smooth it or lose it.

Continue reading…

By Craig Stoltz

Author of “Here Comes Everybody,” NYU Interactive technology/culture prof: Health
2.0 keynote address.

“More is Different”: As groups aggregate, they create not just more
knowledge, but a different, more valuable kind of knowledge….this
affects healthcare innovation in three ways:

Information: Most valuable aspect of the Internet: “people.” Those who think about health information think of individual transactions–but the value is when people share this information.
Yahoo Groups, “the first social software,” illustrates tremendous
public demand for collaboration with others. “Wherever people trust
each other, the information will flow.”

Continue reading…

Health 2.0 Advisors is an advisory service formed by four Health 2.0 thought leaders:
Matthew Holt, Brian Klepper, Michael L. Millenson, and Jane Sarasohn-Kahn.

The new service, in close collaboration with Edelman, will integrate data from Edelman’s Health Trust Barometer in its reports to helps clients unlock value of Health 2.0.

Health 2.0 Advisors will offer a package of state-of-the-industry reports, on-site strategic workshops, and advisory services, with a focus on building value for clients. To learn more read the Press Release.