Sharing is nice but optional

When you encounter discussions about electronic personal health information you quickly identify two camps; those who are concerned about security and privacy and those who promote an open source platform for sharing health information.  Both are valid and both are part of the new paradigm of digital health information.  Sharing is a choice but it's a choice that provides solutions never before available.  

Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla made waves recently by suggesting that technology will replace 80% of doctors during his recent Innovation Summit Keynote Address.  I question the ability to calculate the 80%, it’s quite the bold statement (and I am one who applauds measurable outcomes) but I don’t dispute the theory.  Technology has already changed our current healthcare reality by changing the way we partner with healthcare providers and how we value their service to us.  While healthcare professionals will continue to be needed to provide diagnosis and treatments, healthcare consumers are taking on the role of subject matter experts when the ‘subject’ is their own health. 

Here are two great stories in the making.

Richard& Ivan, 10,000 miles apart – a year ago Richard lost 4 fingers from his right hand, around the same time, Ivan created a mechanical hand that could be worn and operated by a person’s actual hand.  Richard lives in South Africa and was searching the internet for a solution to his health issue and Ivan lives in the US and posted a video of his mechanical hand on YouTube.  The internet brought them together and for almost a year, the two have been engaged in an online collaboration to equip Richard with a prosthetic hand.  They are crowd sourcing funding and posting a blog of their progress.  While they have never met in person, they have bonded over a shared goal; to develop and share an accessible prosthesis design with finger amputees all over the world.  You can read about their story here Coming up Shorthanded  

Matt Mattox, @jrmattox has embarked on an interesting journey over the past year to measure his quantifiable self.  Using a variety of digital devices in a ‘lifestyle experiment’ he was able to lower his cholesterol and theoretically reduced his risk of heart disease.  What is interesting is his comparison of what information his doctor had access to (through lab tests and visits) and what Matt compiled using devices that monitored his blood pressure, weight, diet and sleep patterns.  In reality, few of us would opt to constantly monitor our health status, however, there are measurable results in Matt's lifestyle experiment that illustrate the importance of healthcare consumers being an active partner in their health care.  Matt’s story can be followed at Quantified Self and the Future of Healthcare

The future of healthcare is here and evolving quickly.  The answers do not lie with government policies or insurance company programs, the answers will be found with empowered health care consumer who demands to take control of their personal health information and uses it to improve their health.

It’s your health.  It’s your health information.  Manage it well.