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The Future
of Healthcare
is Social




     +
Too busy to be healthy
                                         Susan’s life is full. That’s a nice way of saying that
                                         she is frenetically, overwhelmingly busy—too
                                         busy, she sometimes jokes, to be healthy. She has
                                         a husband and two small children, a full-time job,
                                         and aging parents who rely on her for support. She
                                         also has two younger brothers and a community of
                                         friends both near and far that she keeps in touch
                                         with mostly online.

                                         At 39, Susan finds herself at the center of manag-
                                         ing the health and wellness of her young family, her
                                         parents, and herself. While numerous tools on the
                                         market can help Susan do this, few are connected,
                                         the information they provide is confusing, and
                                         they’re often so difficult to use that they cost her
                                         time—time she doesn’t have.

                                         Susan is not alone. Too many of us are too busy to
                                         be healthy—not because we lack awareness. We
                                         know what we need to do. It’s finding the time to do
                                         it that’s the problem. In an age of 24/7 connectivity
                                         that requires our near-constant vigilance, time feels
                                         more pressed than ever. Yet, it may be that the very
                                         technology allowing us this around-the-clock con-
                                         nection can transform how we manage our health.

                                          Fortunately, we are at an inflection point in history
                                          both from a policy and technological perspective.
                                          Advances in wirelessly connected devices and
                                          social networking platforms will make the job of a
                                         “family health manager” much easier, more mean-
                                          ingful, and more effective.

                                         In this outlook, we illustrate trends in networked
                                         devices and social networking platforms to project
                                         a future where Susan can tend to her family’s vary-
                                         ing health needs while still having time for herself.




                                         Networked devices + connected people
                                         = healthier communities
                                         Using networked devices and tapping into net-
                                         works of people, Susan manages her own health
                                         and the health of her family. Her healthcare team
2
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         is comprised of her friends, her husband, her par-
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   ents, her siblings, her pharmacists, her traditional
healthcare providers, along with online “friends”
                                         from around the world. This broad team, coupled
                                         with more personalized data collected from mobile
                                         phones, wireless health devices, and ongoing infor-
                                         mation exchanges, will lead to better health for her
                                         and her family. Susan no longer has to rely upon
                                         the infrequent office visit to yield health informa-
                                         tion; instead, she can draw from a steady stream of
                                         useful and personally relevant data, some of which
                                         may trigger the need for an office visit.




                                         Wireless devices gather health data for us
                                         Wireless monitoring and communication devices
                                         are becoming a part of our everyday lives. Integrat-
                                         ed into our daily activities, these devices unob-
                                         trusively collect information for us. For example,
                                         instead of doing an annual health checkup (i.e. car-
                                         diac risk assessment), near real-time health data
                                         access can be used to provide rolling assessments
                                         and alert patients of changes to their health risk
                                         based on biometrics assessment and monitoring
                                         (blood pressure, weight, sleep etc). With predictive
                                         health analytics, health information intelligence,
                                         and data visualization, major risks or abnormalities
                                         can be detected and sent to the doctor, possibly
                                         preempting complications such as stroke, heart at-
                                         tack, or kidney disease. Wireless scales and activity
                                         monitors gather information about our health and
                                         behaviors and feed seamlessly into desktop soft-
                                         ware, Web applications, and social networks.

                                         While much work remains to be done to connect
                                         these devices and the data they generate in univer-
                                         sal and interchangeable ways, there are standards
                                         evolving to ensure that the data will speak the
                                         same language, that the algorithms, analytics, and
                                         data output are validated, and that the collective
                                         potential of these devices will paint a truly holistic
                                         picture. Similarly, increasing adoption of open
                                         identification and authentication standards are
                                         early indicators of a truly portable and accessible
                                         social interchange upon which a secured personal
                                         healthcare network can emerge. Users like Susan
                                         will depend on governed levels of access to protect
3
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         their privacy while leveraging the support and
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   power of many to manage their family’s health.
Reaping emotional and physical benefits
                                         from social interactivity
                                         Susan’s father is forgetting things, the kind of
                                         forgetting that Susan can no longer chalk up to “just
                                         being dad.” Susan’s parents still live in the house
                                         where she grew up, but many of their friends have
                                         moved away. Susan herself has moved a few hours
                                         away, so it’s hard for her to visit her parents often.
                                         She learned that initial memory loss can be slowed
                                         through mental stimulation, so she began schedul-
                                         ing a weekly “virtual Scrabble” date with her dad
                                         to help keep his mind challenged and acute. She
                                         bought her dad a physical Scrabble set with wireless
                                         sensors and low-power e-ink displays, and they use
                                         the same connected TV that enables video calls. It’s
                                         almost as if they are playing in the same room. The
                                         games make her dad laugh, and he can see her kids
                                         as they jump around and say hello. After the game,
                                         Susan catches up with him and her mom about how
                                         they are feeling and what they are doing. Some-
                                         times, she learns more from what she sees in their
                                         appearance or expressions than from what they say.

                                         Susan and her parents are socially engaged in
                                         ways that researchers may not have even imag-
                                         ined a decade ago. Research has shown that
                                         greater social engagement helps people live
                                         longer, healthier lives. More studies are needed to
                                         determine the health benefits of “virtual” social en-
                                         gagement, but based on myriad studies pointing to
                                         improved health outcomes for people with larger
                                         social communities, it is plausible that social
                                         engagement of any kind—even the virtual kind—is
                                         better than isolation. With the advent of social
                                         networking and video conferencing, we can now
                                         stay in touch with more people, including strang-
                                         ers who share a common interest or illness. As we
                                         age, these connections are increasingly important
                                         to our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.

                                         This social engagement and active monitoring
                                          provides Susan some peace of mind and helps her
                                         and her parents remain independent for longer.
                                         Products such as GE’s Quiet Care and Intel’s Health
                                         Guide monitor and connect people and provide
                                         a way to remotely manage their care. They also
4
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         provide a way to save time and money by reducing
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   office visits and avoiding costly emergencies.
Broadening the healthcare team
                                         and improving the dynamics
                                         Even when we do our best to stay healthy, we still
                                         get sick. Coping with sickness in our already hec-
                                         tic lives can be challenging. In addition to looking
                                         out for her parents, Susan manages the health
                                         of her two kids, her husband, and herself, and
                                         she looks for ways to save time and money while
                                         still getting the care that they need. Recently, for
                                         example, Susan’s son woke up with a sore throat
                                         and a fever. She used an at-home strep test to
                                         rub a swab of her son’s throat culture onto a
                                         card. Within minutes, the test results confirmed
                                         her son had strep. Through an embedded RFID
                                         sensor within the card, the test results were
                                         wirelessly transmitted to her computer’s reader.
                                         On her computer, she was prompted to connect
                                         the incoming test results to her son’s personal
                                         health record. Next, she used her personal
                                         health network to book the earliest visit for her
                                         son within a 10-mile vicinity. Susan elected to
                                         electronically send her son’s strep results in ad-
                                         vance of her appointment, allowing the receiving
                                         retail clinic to accelerate her visit by pre-issuing
                                         an e-prescription. Before leaving her computer,
                                         Susan selected her son’s classroom network,
                                         comprised of his teacher and the parents of
                                         other students, and sent out a message that her
                                         son had strep throat and would be home for the
                                         next several days.

                                         After Susan and her son visited the clinic she
                                         picked up her son’s prescription. While she
                                         was there, Susan purchased a quick knee scan
                                         guided by the on-site nurse, because her knee
                                         has been bothering her. She opted to authenti-
                                         cate and connect the results automatically to her
                                         personal health record.

                                         In another scenario, using similar technology
                                         such as geographic positioning, ratings, and
                                         calendar availability, Susan could have sched-
                                         uled an appointment with of a local family doctor
                                         who makes house calls. The doctor would have
                                         been able to electronically respond to Susan’s
                                         inquiries about her child’s health, and the com-
5
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         munication thread would have been stored in
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   her child’s healthcare record. A reminder for a
needed immunization would have been received
                                         through her general message inbox, the appoint-
                                         ment scheduled based on her availability and the
                                         event added to her record.

                                         The technological advancements in networked
                                         devices and personal health networks are enlarging
                                         healthcare teams and changing way healthcare is
                                         delivered. Research and clinical studies by compa-
                                         nies like Qualcomm and West Wireless Health, GE,
                                         and Intel, to name a few, are yielding new medical
                                         technologies in the areas of screening, monitor-
                                         ing, and RFID among others. These developments
                                         require substantial innovation, validation, and
                                         adoption of a standardized, security backbone that
                                         providers can trust with their patient’s data and
                                         that patients can trust to allow them consistent
                                         access to their medical histories.

                                         With self-diagnostics, automated schedulers, and
                                         e-prescriptions, healthcare will become more
                                         efficient for common maladies and will not entail
                                         hours of waiting and frustration. Retail clinics will
                                         offer flexible, cost effective, and immediate options
                                         when the family doctor is unavailable. Patient
                                         results and data will stream into a consolidated
                                         healthcare record that patients and healthcare
                                         providers can access and view from any location.
                                         And for people like Susan, this offers more efficient
                                         access to the information and services she needs
                                         as well as potential cost savings.




                                         Making sense of the numbers — learning
                                         over time
                                         When Susan’s doctor first told her that she was
                                         at risk for developing melanoma, she was so
                                         frightened that she forgot everything he said as
                                         soon as she walked out of his office. When she
                                         got home, her personal healthcare record was up-
                                         dated from the doctor’s visit with the melanoma
                                         risk information and a list of suggested resources.
                                         Susan learned about tools to help monitor her
                                         health including a Smart Mirror. Connected to the
                                         family network through fingerprint identification,
6
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         the Smart Mirror syncs to that family member’s
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   personal health record.
Every morning, Susan puts her hand on the mirror,
                                         which captures her vital signs. Connected to her
                                         personal health record, the mirror also reminds
                                         her of the medications she needs to take every
                                         day. Bi-weekly, she also uses the mirror to scan
                                         her skin, and any moles and other marks found
                                         are tracked for abnormal growth or color changes.
                                         The data is pushed to her protected record, from
                                         which it can be accessed and reviewed during
                                         visits with her primary care doctor and dermatol-
                                         ogist. Trending analysis can be performed against
                                         her data, which can alert Susan and her health-
                                         care team to concerns.

                                         The availability and interpretation of the data over
                                         time will empower us to self-manage our wellness or
                                         chronic conditions by putting the information and
                                         tools at our fingertips. Large amounts of data can
                                         be overwhelming, but when that data is interpreted,
                                         personalized, and fit into evolving trends such as
                                         nutritional habits, sleep patterns, or blood pressure
                                         measurement, or when these are compared with
                                         family or friends, it can be immensely informative.
                                         When coupled with clinical algorithms to process
                                         the data, these devices reveal insights about pat-
                                         terns, cause and effect, and the impact of health
                                         and lifestyle choices that we make. Visualizing and
                                         manipulating this kind of information creates “aha!”
                                         moments that may otherwise have gone unde-
                                         tected. We have a daily view into our health and the
                                         choices we make as part of a larger context. It also
                                         encourages an ongoing dialogue with our friends
                                         and our larger healthcare “team.”



                                         Finding meaning and strength — learning via
                                         large groups
                                         Swapping healthcare stories among family and
                                         friends is common. This used to be done in small, lo-
                                         cal communities, and with only a few people. People
                                         with rare conditions struggled to find information
                                         about their ailments and others with the same condi-
                                         tion. Now Susan can interact with family and friends
                                         and thousands of people across the globe, finding
                                         similarities and differences among a huge group of
                                         people. This can pose risks, but community health
7
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         sites and shared personal health records offer a new
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   frontier of medical discovery and patient support,
allowing data collection and data sharing across the
                                         population. This can provide opportunities for opt-in
                                         research and trending benefits for disease preven-
                                         tion, monitoring, and treatments. It can also yield
                                         human-centered responses to sharing, collaborating,
                                         and finding meaning and strength in numbers.

                                          PatientsLikeMe, an online patient community net-
                                          work, has a typical privacy policy, but it also has an
                                         “openness philosophy” that states, “When patients
                                          share real-world data, collaboration on a global
                                          scale becomes possible. New treatments become
                                          possible. Most importantly, change becomes pos-
                                          sible.” This community and its openness embody
                                          the philosophy of healthcare in the future: We have
                                          much to gain from information and from each other.

                                         Beyond the emotional support Susan gets from
                                         sharing parts of her health record with a commu-
                                         nity of people, she is also learning about her health
                                         statistics and her habits by comparing them to
                                         those of other people. For example, because she
                                         is at risk for diabetes, she has recently started
                                         tracking her meals by taking photographs from her
                                         mobile phone and uploading them to a service that
                                         helps her measure caloric counts and nutritional
                                         values. As she evaluates her food choices and other
                                         health indicators, she compares them to those of
                                         other people of her age with similar lifestyles. She
                                         is surprised to learn that her portion sizes are much
                                         larger than those of her peers and that she eats
                                         more prepared foods than most people.

                                         With the help of her health concierge, an online
                                         personal coach that she accesses through her
                                         health plan, and others in her network, she cre-
                                         ates a meal plan with recipes and portions to help
                                         her stay on track with her diet.

                                         The service also provides a “shopping assistant” that
                                         helps Susan make healthy choices at the point of
                                         purchase. Using her phone, Susan quickly scans
                                         products to see if they fit her meal plan, and a sim-
                                         ple “red light” or “green light” guides her selections.

                                         Beyond the value and efficiencies Susan gains from
8
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         this assistance, she can also opt to have specific
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   types of data such as her nutrition, weight, and
blood pressure anonymously shared with the medi-
                                         cal research community for research and trending
                                         analysis. The extrapolation of multiple data points
                                         across large groups of people can hasten the pace
                                         of medical discoveries and knowledge, and can also
                                         foster dialogue between scientists and patients to
                                         discern and validate emerging insights. Facilitated
                                         by technology, this exchange of information can
                                         provide relevant and personalized guidance for
                                         Susan and her family. Instead of browsing health
                                         magazines and researching online for credible and
                                         relevant information, Susan and her family can have
                                         a vast pool of information tailored to their own
                                         health conditions and coordinated with their own
                                         unique trending patterns. This saves Susan time
                                         while allowing her to be proactive and informed.




                                         Monitoring how we are doing may actually
                                         change what we are doing
                                         After learning of her health risks from her doctor,
                                         Susan vows to pay more attention to what she eats
                                         and to get more exercise. She has set these goals
                                         for herself before as New Year’s resolutions, but
                                         she hasn’t been successful. This time, it’s differ-
                                         ent. She has easy-to-use tools that help her track,
                                         share, and compare her progress with a wide com-
                                         munity of people.

                                         Although she never imagined it could happen, Su-
                                         san has become addicted to morning jogs. It’s her
                                         time to relax, to listen to music, and to recharge.
                                         She especially enjoys jogging with her friend twice
                                         a week and and catching up. Though her friend
                                         lives out of state, the two use their mobile devices
                                         and sensors to keep real-time pace with each
                                         other, listen to the same songs, and even chat
                                         when they’re not out of breath. After her jog, Su-
                                         san’s mobile device guides her to do appropriate
                                         stretches based on her personal profile, including
                                         the knee-scan results recently sent from the clinic.

                                         Knowing that she is running with a friend, even
                                         virtually, helps Susan get out the door to do it. And
                                         knowing that she is tracking her progress, pace,
9
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         and distance without any effort on her part, Susan
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   feels motivated to stay with her routine and try
harder. She loves the encouragement she gets
                                         from her friends and from observing their progress
                                         as they work towards their goals.

                                         The tools and technology may be new, but the
                                         natural instinct to respond more strongly when
                                         you are being observed is not. Studies have long
                                         shown that people change their behavior simply
                                         because they are being observed. This is based on
                                         both a desire for reward as well as fear of punish-
                                         ment. We have seen evidence of this in the huge
                                         success of Nike+, with its sensors and online
                                         community of runners. Another example is FitBit,
                                         which tracks activity and sleep and offers the abil-
                                         ity to share collaborative fitness goals with friends,
                                         family, and co-workers. Connecting these moni-
                                         toring devices to communities of people offers
                                         social support, peer pressure, and competition to
                                         encourage people to change their behavior.




                                         Connecting people and devices for better
                                         health outcomes
                                         As the “family health manager” for her parents, chil-
                                         dren, husband, and herself, Susan plays a central
                                         role in managing the health choices, budgets, and
                                         care of her family. Today, this involves a consider-
                                         able amount of time and expense in dealing with
                                         disparate systems, various health plans, different
                                         geographic locations, and incomplete information.

                                         In the future, Susan will be able to manage much
                                         of this from her home and mobile phone—a con-
                                         venience that not only saves her time and money,
                                         but also gives her peace of mind. With the wireless
                                         monitoring devices and community networks, she
                                         will have access to more tailored and complete in-
                                         formation to assist her in making the best health
                                         and financial choices. Ongoing management and
                                         awareness also helps prevent costly, time con-
                                         suming, and perhaps life-threatening emergencies
                                         for her and her family.

                                         Continuous versus episodic monitoring of health
                                         can lead to better health outcomes. Periodic visits
10
The Future of Healthcare is Social
                                         to the doctor, which are often rushed and focused
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   only on an immediate, pressing issue, may not be
enough. Technology allows us to keep watch more
                                         closely, leading to more timely and holistically
                                         informed health decisions. The devices and the on-
                                         line communities act as a vigilant safety net, mak-
                                         ing us feel less alone, more empowered, and safer
                                         as we navigate the complex world of health. The
                                         trajectories in networked health devices and social
                                         networking will help people like Susan lead more
                                         independent, healthier lives. They are converging
                                         to create a new frontier in healthcare. Collecting
                                         health data from mobile applications, embedded
                                         sensors, or other devices offers convenient and
                                         personalized information to help people manage
                                         their health over time. With clinically based algo-
                                         rithms, data visualization, and community sharing,
                                         we will receive not just more information, but more
                                         meaningful and timely information that is chan-
                                         neled better to improve our health.




                                         Written by:


                                         Jennifer Kilian
                                         Creative Director, frog design
11
The Future of Healthcare is Social       Barbara Pantuso
www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare   Director of Healthcare Innovation, frog design

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Future of-healthcare

  • 2. Too busy to be healthy Susan’s life is full. That’s a nice way of saying that she is frenetically, overwhelmingly busy—too busy, she sometimes jokes, to be healthy. She has a husband and two small children, a full-time job, and aging parents who rely on her for support. She also has two younger brothers and a community of friends both near and far that she keeps in touch with mostly online. At 39, Susan finds herself at the center of manag- ing the health and wellness of her young family, her parents, and herself. While numerous tools on the market can help Susan do this, few are connected, the information they provide is confusing, and they’re often so difficult to use that they cost her time—time she doesn’t have. Susan is not alone. Too many of us are too busy to be healthy—not because we lack awareness. We know what we need to do. It’s finding the time to do it that’s the problem. In an age of 24/7 connectivity that requires our near-constant vigilance, time feels more pressed than ever. Yet, it may be that the very technology allowing us this around-the-clock con- nection can transform how we manage our health. Fortunately, we are at an inflection point in history both from a policy and technological perspective. Advances in wirelessly connected devices and social networking platforms will make the job of a “family health manager” much easier, more mean- ingful, and more effective. In this outlook, we illustrate trends in networked devices and social networking platforms to project a future where Susan can tend to her family’s vary- ing health needs while still having time for herself. Networked devices + connected people = healthier communities Using networked devices and tapping into net- works of people, Susan manages her own health and the health of her family. Her healthcare team 2 The Future of Healthcare is Social is comprised of her friends, her husband, her par- www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare ents, her siblings, her pharmacists, her traditional
  • 3. healthcare providers, along with online “friends” from around the world. This broad team, coupled with more personalized data collected from mobile phones, wireless health devices, and ongoing infor- mation exchanges, will lead to better health for her and her family. Susan no longer has to rely upon the infrequent office visit to yield health informa- tion; instead, she can draw from a steady stream of useful and personally relevant data, some of which may trigger the need for an office visit. Wireless devices gather health data for us Wireless monitoring and communication devices are becoming a part of our everyday lives. Integrat- ed into our daily activities, these devices unob- trusively collect information for us. For example, instead of doing an annual health checkup (i.e. car- diac risk assessment), near real-time health data access can be used to provide rolling assessments and alert patients of changes to their health risk based on biometrics assessment and monitoring (blood pressure, weight, sleep etc). With predictive health analytics, health information intelligence, and data visualization, major risks or abnormalities can be detected and sent to the doctor, possibly preempting complications such as stroke, heart at- tack, or kidney disease. Wireless scales and activity monitors gather information about our health and behaviors and feed seamlessly into desktop soft- ware, Web applications, and social networks. While much work remains to be done to connect these devices and the data they generate in univer- sal and interchangeable ways, there are standards evolving to ensure that the data will speak the same language, that the algorithms, analytics, and data output are validated, and that the collective potential of these devices will paint a truly holistic picture. Similarly, increasing adoption of open identification and authentication standards are early indicators of a truly portable and accessible social interchange upon which a secured personal healthcare network can emerge. Users like Susan will depend on governed levels of access to protect 3 The Future of Healthcare is Social their privacy while leveraging the support and www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare power of many to manage their family’s health.
  • 4. Reaping emotional and physical benefits from social interactivity Susan’s father is forgetting things, the kind of forgetting that Susan can no longer chalk up to “just being dad.” Susan’s parents still live in the house where she grew up, but many of their friends have moved away. Susan herself has moved a few hours away, so it’s hard for her to visit her parents often. She learned that initial memory loss can be slowed through mental stimulation, so she began schedul- ing a weekly “virtual Scrabble” date with her dad to help keep his mind challenged and acute. She bought her dad a physical Scrabble set with wireless sensors and low-power e-ink displays, and they use the same connected TV that enables video calls. It’s almost as if they are playing in the same room. The games make her dad laugh, and he can see her kids as they jump around and say hello. After the game, Susan catches up with him and her mom about how they are feeling and what they are doing. Some- times, she learns more from what she sees in their appearance or expressions than from what they say. Susan and her parents are socially engaged in ways that researchers may not have even imag- ined a decade ago. Research has shown that greater social engagement helps people live longer, healthier lives. More studies are needed to determine the health benefits of “virtual” social en- gagement, but based on myriad studies pointing to improved health outcomes for people with larger social communities, it is plausible that social engagement of any kind—even the virtual kind—is better than isolation. With the advent of social networking and video conferencing, we can now stay in touch with more people, including strang- ers who share a common interest or illness. As we age, these connections are increasingly important to our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. This social engagement and active monitoring provides Susan some peace of mind and helps her and her parents remain independent for longer. Products such as GE’s Quiet Care and Intel’s Health Guide monitor and connect people and provide a way to remotely manage their care. They also 4 The Future of Healthcare is Social provide a way to save time and money by reducing www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare office visits and avoiding costly emergencies.
  • 5. Broadening the healthcare team and improving the dynamics Even when we do our best to stay healthy, we still get sick. Coping with sickness in our already hec- tic lives can be challenging. In addition to looking out for her parents, Susan manages the health of her two kids, her husband, and herself, and she looks for ways to save time and money while still getting the care that they need. Recently, for example, Susan’s son woke up with a sore throat and a fever. She used an at-home strep test to rub a swab of her son’s throat culture onto a card. Within minutes, the test results confirmed her son had strep. Through an embedded RFID sensor within the card, the test results were wirelessly transmitted to her computer’s reader. On her computer, she was prompted to connect the incoming test results to her son’s personal health record. Next, she used her personal health network to book the earliest visit for her son within a 10-mile vicinity. Susan elected to electronically send her son’s strep results in ad- vance of her appointment, allowing the receiving retail clinic to accelerate her visit by pre-issuing an e-prescription. Before leaving her computer, Susan selected her son’s classroom network, comprised of his teacher and the parents of other students, and sent out a message that her son had strep throat and would be home for the next several days. After Susan and her son visited the clinic she picked up her son’s prescription. While she was there, Susan purchased a quick knee scan guided by the on-site nurse, because her knee has been bothering her. She opted to authenti- cate and connect the results automatically to her personal health record. In another scenario, using similar technology such as geographic positioning, ratings, and calendar availability, Susan could have sched- uled an appointment with of a local family doctor who makes house calls. The doctor would have been able to electronically respond to Susan’s inquiries about her child’s health, and the com- 5 The Future of Healthcare is Social munication thread would have been stored in www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare her child’s healthcare record. A reminder for a
  • 6. needed immunization would have been received through her general message inbox, the appoint- ment scheduled based on her availability and the event added to her record. The technological advancements in networked devices and personal health networks are enlarging healthcare teams and changing way healthcare is delivered. Research and clinical studies by compa- nies like Qualcomm and West Wireless Health, GE, and Intel, to name a few, are yielding new medical technologies in the areas of screening, monitor- ing, and RFID among others. These developments require substantial innovation, validation, and adoption of a standardized, security backbone that providers can trust with their patient’s data and that patients can trust to allow them consistent access to their medical histories. With self-diagnostics, automated schedulers, and e-prescriptions, healthcare will become more efficient for common maladies and will not entail hours of waiting and frustration. Retail clinics will offer flexible, cost effective, and immediate options when the family doctor is unavailable. Patient results and data will stream into a consolidated healthcare record that patients and healthcare providers can access and view from any location. And for people like Susan, this offers more efficient access to the information and services she needs as well as potential cost savings. Making sense of the numbers — learning over time When Susan’s doctor first told her that she was at risk for developing melanoma, she was so frightened that she forgot everything he said as soon as she walked out of his office. When she got home, her personal healthcare record was up- dated from the doctor’s visit with the melanoma risk information and a list of suggested resources. Susan learned about tools to help monitor her health including a Smart Mirror. Connected to the family network through fingerprint identification, 6 The Future of Healthcare is Social the Smart Mirror syncs to that family member’s www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare personal health record.
  • 7. Every morning, Susan puts her hand on the mirror, which captures her vital signs. Connected to her personal health record, the mirror also reminds her of the medications she needs to take every day. Bi-weekly, she also uses the mirror to scan her skin, and any moles and other marks found are tracked for abnormal growth or color changes. The data is pushed to her protected record, from which it can be accessed and reviewed during visits with her primary care doctor and dermatol- ogist. Trending analysis can be performed against her data, which can alert Susan and her health- care team to concerns. The availability and interpretation of the data over time will empower us to self-manage our wellness or chronic conditions by putting the information and tools at our fingertips. Large amounts of data can be overwhelming, but when that data is interpreted, personalized, and fit into evolving trends such as nutritional habits, sleep patterns, or blood pressure measurement, or when these are compared with family or friends, it can be immensely informative. When coupled with clinical algorithms to process the data, these devices reveal insights about pat- terns, cause and effect, and the impact of health and lifestyle choices that we make. Visualizing and manipulating this kind of information creates “aha!” moments that may otherwise have gone unde- tected. We have a daily view into our health and the choices we make as part of a larger context. It also encourages an ongoing dialogue with our friends and our larger healthcare “team.” Finding meaning and strength — learning via large groups Swapping healthcare stories among family and friends is common. This used to be done in small, lo- cal communities, and with only a few people. People with rare conditions struggled to find information about their ailments and others with the same condi- tion. Now Susan can interact with family and friends and thousands of people across the globe, finding similarities and differences among a huge group of people. This can pose risks, but community health 7 The Future of Healthcare is Social sites and shared personal health records offer a new www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare frontier of medical discovery and patient support,
  • 8. allowing data collection and data sharing across the population. This can provide opportunities for opt-in research and trending benefits for disease preven- tion, monitoring, and treatments. It can also yield human-centered responses to sharing, collaborating, and finding meaning and strength in numbers. PatientsLikeMe, an online patient community net- work, has a typical privacy policy, but it also has an “openness philosophy” that states, “When patients share real-world data, collaboration on a global scale becomes possible. New treatments become possible. Most importantly, change becomes pos- sible.” This community and its openness embody the philosophy of healthcare in the future: We have much to gain from information and from each other. Beyond the emotional support Susan gets from sharing parts of her health record with a commu- nity of people, she is also learning about her health statistics and her habits by comparing them to those of other people. For example, because she is at risk for diabetes, she has recently started tracking her meals by taking photographs from her mobile phone and uploading them to a service that helps her measure caloric counts and nutritional values. As she evaluates her food choices and other health indicators, she compares them to those of other people of her age with similar lifestyles. She is surprised to learn that her portion sizes are much larger than those of her peers and that she eats more prepared foods than most people. With the help of her health concierge, an online personal coach that she accesses through her health plan, and others in her network, she cre- ates a meal plan with recipes and portions to help her stay on track with her diet. The service also provides a “shopping assistant” that helps Susan make healthy choices at the point of purchase. Using her phone, Susan quickly scans products to see if they fit her meal plan, and a sim- ple “red light” or “green light” guides her selections. Beyond the value and efficiencies Susan gains from 8 The Future of Healthcare is Social this assistance, she can also opt to have specific www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare types of data such as her nutrition, weight, and
  • 9. blood pressure anonymously shared with the medi- cal research community for research and trending analysis. The extrapolation of multiple data points across large groups of people can hasten the pace of medical discoveries and knowledge, and can also foster dialogue between scientists and patients to discern and validate emerging insights. Facilitated by technology, this exchange of information can provide relevant and personalized guidance for Susan and her family. Instead of browsing health magazines and researching online for credible and relevant information, Susan and her family can have a vast pool of information tailored to their own health conditions and coordinated with their own unique trending patterns. This saves Susan time while allowing her to be proactive and informed. Monitoring how we are doing may actually change what we are doing After learning of her health risks from her doctor, Susan vows to pay more attention to what she eats and to get more exercise. She has set these goals for herself before as New Year’s resolutions, but she hasn’t been successful. This time, it’s differ- ent. She has easy-to-use tools that help her track, share, and compare her progress with a wide com- munity of people. Although she never imagined it could happen, Su- san has become addicted to morning jogs. It’s her time to relax, to listen to music, and to recharge. She especially enjoys jogging with her friend twice a week and and catching up. Though her friend lives out of state, the two use their mobile devices and sensors to keep real-time pace with each other, listen to the same songs, and even chat when they’re not out of breath. After her jog, Su- san’s mobile device guides her to do appropriate stretches based on her personal profile, including the knee-scan results recently sent from the clinic. Knowing that she is running with a friend, even virtually, helps Susan get out the door to do it. And knowing that she is tracking her progress, pace, 9 The Future of Healthcare is Social and distance without any effort on her part, Susan www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare feels motivated to stay with her routine and try
  • 10. harder. She loves the encouragement she gets from her friends and from observing their progress as they work towards their goals. The tools and technology may be new, but the natural instinct to respond more strongly when you are being observed is not. Studies have long shown that people change their behavior simply because they are being observed. This is based on both a desire for reward as well as fear of punish- ment. We have seen evidence of this in the huge success of Nike+, with its sensors and online community of runners. Another example is FitBit, which tracks activity and sleep and offers the abil- ity to share collaborative fitness goals with friends, family, and co-workers. Connecting these moni- toring devices to communities of people offers social support, peer pressure, and competition to encourage people to change their behavior. Connecting people and devices for better health outcomes As the “family health manager” for her parents, chil- dren, husband, and herself, Susan plays a central role in managing the health choices, budgets, and care of her family. Today, this involves a consider- able amount of time and expense in dealing with disparate systems, various health plans, different geographic locations, and incomplete information. In the future, Susan will be able to manage much of this from her home and mobile phone—a con- venience that not only saves her time and money, but also gives her peace of mind. With the wireless monitoring devices and community networks, she will have access to more tailored and complete in- formation to assist her in making the best health and financial choices. Ongoing management and awareness also helps prevent costly, time con- suming, and perhaps life-threatening emergencies for her and her family. Continuous versus episodic monitoring of health can lead to better health outcomes. Periodic visits 10 The Future of Healthcare is Social to the doctor, which are often rushed and focused www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare only on an immediate, pressing issue, may not be
  • 11. enough. Technology allows us to keep watch more closely, leading to more timely and holistically informed health decisions. The devices and the on- line communities act as a vigilant safety net, mak- ing us feel less alone, more empowered, and safer as we navigate the complex world of health. The trajectories in networked health devices and social networking will help people like Susan lead more independent, healthier lives. They are converging to create a new frontier in healthcare. Collecting health data from mobile applications, embedded sensors, or other devices offers convenient and personalized information to help people manage their health over time. With clinically based algo- rithms, data visualization, and community sharing, we will receive not just more information, but more meaningful and timely information that is chan- neled better to improve our health. Written by: Jennifer Kilian Creative Director, frog design 11 The Future of Healthcare is Social Barbara Pantuso www.fastcompany.com/futureofhealthcare Director of Healthcare Innovation, frog design