I have a very simple goal. I want to live a long, healthy life. In order to accomplish this, my body needs to be functioning at its highest capacity. But, my body is made up of multiple complex systems that I don’t fully understand and I require a trained healthcare professional to monitor it in order to ensure it is functioning properly…or do I? Now, I can take on that role with the help of my smartphone.
The role of family physicians in providing preventive care has been declining. (See What if doctors worked like dentists?) This means healthcare consumers are left to be more proactive in managing and monitoring their health. The good news is there a whole lot of options out there to help us.
Smartphones – There’s an app for that! Your phone has the potential to monitor all kinds of health conditions. According to Dr. Eric Topel, noted digital health guru and author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine (my current read) “You can take the phone and make it a lab on a chip. You can do blood tests, saliva tests, urine tests – all kinds of things – sweat tests, through your phone. This is a powerful device,”
Pharmacists –This healthcare professional is looking to provide you with services to help manage your health. Kroger’s Health Centre kiosks, for example provide customers with an easy and secure solution to consistently measure, monitor and improve body composition and other clinical conditions. Assessments include blood pressure, weight, body composition, BMI, color vision and the ability to upload blood glucose numbers and other biometric results. And it’s free!
Paper and pencil - The PEW Tracking for Health Report released this week identified that 69% of U.S. adults track a health indicator like weight, diet, exercise routine, or symptom. Of those half track “in their heads, one-third keep notes on paper, and one in five use technology to keep tabs on their health status. Technology is not the enabling factor, almost 50% of those studied didn't use technology at all.
Are we ready to take on this role? U.S. consumers’ desire to take an active role in their health decisions is growing, according to the Altarum Institute Survey of Consumer Health Care Opinions. 61% of people want to make health decisions either on their own (26%) or with input from their doctor (38%). The proportion of people wanting to be “completely in charge of my decisions” rose 4 percentage points in one year, from 2011.
Some people are actively participating in the digital health uprising, they are the early adopters, leading the way, motivating a consciousness rising. We need to realize that the internet and self-tracking devices are just tools. The real change will come when we each recognize the value of taking responsibility for monitoring our own health. We as consumers are the only ones who can make this happen. For me, there is no greater value than living a long healthy life.
It’s your health. It’s your health information. Manage it well.
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