Connection: The Goal for 21st-Century Health Care?
By Josh Seidman | Popularity: 20%Kaiser Permanente released two new ads as part of its ongoing “Thrive” campaign. Although both are quite entertaining, the one that struck me most is titled, “Connected.” Much has been made of Kaiser’s multi-billion dollar investment in health information technology (HIT), but perhaps what has received too little attention is how they structured it.
What the “Connected” ad does masterfully is to visually, technologically, and audibly demonstrate that all its technological investment has its member at the center and is focused on facilitating connections for that member. Connections to data, information, clinicians, and ultimately to everything that a member might need to manage their health and “thrive.”
This should not come as a surprise. When Kaiser launched their Epic implementation several years back, they decided to call it “HealthConnect.” Now, their vision is playing out among the more than 3 million Kaiser members taking advantage of that connectivity.
The connection theme deserves more attention in the national debate on reforming the health care delivery system. Connections among people and information can be incredibly powerful in enhancing clinician-patient relationships, creating truly patient-centered medical homes, and facilitating participatory medicine.
It’s important to note, however, that connection is about far more than simply creating electronic links between people and data. In order to maximize the connection potential, the data need to be translated into understandable, meaningful, useful information for each user. That information needs to be accessible in a convenient way for each person, and it must be proactively delivered to them in a just-in-time fashion in a way that engages them to initiate effective actions.
When we put all that together, those connections can create effective, efficient health care delivery.
RSS feed
October 16th, 2009 at 7:32 am
I want to limelight that the whole nation is debating over health care issues but they reform many other issues, from affordability to access. one crucial element that has been largely missing from the discussion: prevention. That is, how to help Americans stay or become healthy. the need is to take an in-depth look at the type of health care system that we really want in this country and at how our individual lifestyle choices impact our health.