16 Sep Healthcare: Connecting The Dots

In the last few weeks I have been reading a lot of articles on technology, healthcare, business, marketing, and design. There has been the announcement of the new iPhone,  the Xbox One & Kinect, a disruptive lab company offering precise testing to patients/providers for 50% of a typical blood lab draw, and the ongoing political babble of Obamacare, or as the more educated like to say, The Affordable Care Act.
In all of the various media outputs I am being told about all of the wonderful things that I can come to expect, learn, and purchase in the next coming months. I am able to gain the techs and specs, pricing, release dates, and opinions of many industry experts. Yet as a person who lives and breathes this daily, I sit and ask, “So What?”
What I really want to know is who is going to be the next person or company to bring the next evolution of disruption to the marketplace? Who is going to be the first to easily ‘connect the dots’?
Think about it. The genius in Steve Jobs was that he was the first to bring a computer, internet, camera, home shopping network, music, movies, and video into a small little handheld device. He allows the world to carry their life in their pocket or bag.
The genius in Mark Zuckerberg was that he brought a sense of belonging, sharing, and community to a disconnected and 2D world. He brought us together and allows people to connect on a personal level and share with one another.
Jack Dorsey’s genius was a communication feed that forced people to be concise in their messaging. To get to the point. To share things in real time. To distribute information that is meaningful, actionable, to the world.
The problem that I have today is depicted in my simplistic doodle that follows:

Today, everything is silo’d. Healthcare, Retail, Consumer Electronics, Travel, Health and Wellness, Home, Work, and even Education. All of the businesses within each of these segments view me through their own lens. They want my attention, they want my support, and they want my dollars. However, do any of them stop and ask how they can help make my life easier?
Think about it. There are probably 3 items that cross all of the various silo’s: me, my phone, and my money (dollars or credit cards). So why not work to make my life easier, connect the dots, and together develop the 1 + 1 = 3?
For instance, what if the iPhone with it’s finger print ID system becomes the medium to store all of my healthcare information? What if physicians input their notes on their own eMR but there is a plug in that allows it to download to my phone? Same with imaging studies? Same with lifetime dose for X-rays? Prescriptions? Wouldn’t it then allow my care to become more coordinated, more engaged, and timely no matter where I seek care?
What if I woke up at 2am in the morning and had a fever, chills, or fell and am in pain?
Would my Kinect detect that I fell, call a family physician that was online, ask me if I needed an ambulance? If I did it would be dispatched. If not, they could review my medications, check me out virtually, and perhaps if I needed a splint, allow me download a 3D printable splint customized to me.
How about when I go to the local grocery store that I purchase food with my credit card. It has a list of the fruits and vegetables, milk, and other items that I bought. The information is downloaded to my smart refrigerator. It sends me messages on food that is about to spoil, gives me lists of recipes that I can cook based on how busy I am, if I am having company or entertaining (based on my calendar), and utilizes the ingredients that would potentially spoil first? That information is also kept as part of my health file? Maybe then groceries are set aside for me based on my usage and convenience? I can go in and just pick up the bag that has already been predetermined? Perhaps I edited it and add or delete items?
What if based on my habits and making healthy choices I get rewarded ‘bit coins’ that I can then use to purchase other items that I want? Maybe that TV, or exercise bike, or presents for family and friends? Maybe a trip I have always wanted to go on? Perhaps I can use it to get discounts on my healthcare?
How about if my bathroom was able to detect difference in my urine every time I use the restroom? Would I be able to take a blood sample at home, connect it to a device, have it analyzed and transmitted via my computer, my phone, or Kinect? Maybe the drain analyzes my hair? Maybe the mirror does an eye exam? Could this all be shared with my health provider? Could it all be stored on my phone?
What if social media was able to analyzes my posts and understand how I was feeling, both physically and emotionally? Could they then disperse medications or have a clinician visit remotely based on a variation in my posting? Could this impact suicides, loss days due to sickness?
Could I begin to go to the local shopping mall to get a imaging scan done, and because I carry my data with me, that I get the ideal CT or X-ray done because my historical data is available, and techs could see the technique that was used? Could imaging centers be deployed to neighborhoods? Would I own my own ultrasound, connect it, have a tech help me use it to scan a region of interest, and then send the study to a radiologist to read, then transmit to a provider of my choice that schedules an appointment with me, based on my availability in my calendar, and shares the information and treatment plan with me? Then saves it to my device?
Would I be able to find more people that have similar diseases or illnesses as I do, that are in close proximity to me, and could we begin to leverage one another for additional support, sharing of experiences, and be able to work together to help care for one another in a more rapid and meaningful way?
Could every interaction and the data it generates be used to leverage clinical trial enrollments, bring new drugs/treatments/devices to the market more quickly? Could we move further away from traditional hospitals, yet get better quality care at a more reasonable price?
Who has the ability to connect the dots? Who can take all of the opportunities, tie them together, and make life easier for me? For you? For all of us? Who will disrupt the world?
Who will be the next to simplify care, shopping, and my life? Who will connect the dots? Or should I ask, who will draw a line, connect the dots, and make a world that is specific to my life?
As always, you can feel free to contact me at: CANCERGEEK@GMAIL.COM
~CancerGeek
@cancergeek