E-Patients, the growing group of individuals using the internet to find health info, are the fire in the belly of the e-Health movement. They are online, they are collaborative, and they are tired of the one-way communication that happens in the doctor's office.
According to a video shown at Reshape09, a Health 2.0 conference held this month in the Netherlands:
- 84% of individuals do a Google search before visiting the doctor.
- Patients only remember about 50 to 60% of what's been said during a ten minute doctor consultation.
- 76% of individuals trust their family's and friends' advice more than ads and articles.
It's clear from statistics like these that there is an enormous push of e-patients "taking back" what is rightfully theirs - personal health information. But who's catering to this ever-expanding group?
There has already existed a demand for participatory medicine, and this year, we have begun to see the "supply" side fall into place. Start-up companies have been emerging that desire to cater to the e-patient, even well-established HMOs are dipping a toe into the digital age.
Kaiser Permanente's new Thrive Web site seamlessly blends health care and social media. On the site, KP offers widgets to test your brain skills and manage your fitness efforts. There are a series of short blog posts that offer tips and tricks for eating green and staying invested in your health. Some even offer healthy recipes. If the Kaiser Permanente logo wasn't on the site, you wouldn't know all of this helpful and engaging information was coming from the well-established health corporation.
One project that Kaiser Permanente has announced this year in a press release, as well as in their "Emerald Cities" commercial, is a push to develop paperless medical records - the buzz words right now in Health IT. The researchers over at KP have conducted a 5-year project and found that, "the use of electronic health records by specialty and primary care doctors can lead to improved care and early intervention for those with serious health issues like kidney disease."
But it's not just beneficial to those with kidney disease. Paperless medical records could significantly change how patients manage their chronic diseases and in the process, save more lives in emergencies when only seconds count.
According to a new study by RAND Corporation researchers', "Routine use of electronic health records may improve the quality of care provided in community-based primary care practices more than other common strategies intended to raise the quality of medical care."
Going paperless would give patients more access to their personal data, and allow physicians to share information, appropriately, with one another.
Change is difficult, especially a shift from how physicians have managed their practices for the past century, but it is paperless medical records that will push health organizations into the digital age, and begin the future of health care.
Tags: Digital Health, e-Patients, Electronic Medical Records
