Can't Teach an old dog new tricks......

So, just checking the daily news alerts to see what's up. Found this:

"Essentially, the feds are asking EMRs to be social. And this is what the best one looks like:
Ha. Good luck. If Google can’t do it in a meaningful way, I guarantee the Health IT world won’t come close" http://blog.bradybouchard.ca/2009/10/when-it-starts-in-silos-it-will-never-go-social/

Fortunately the author has identified the certainty of failure for all those entering the space, saving everyone time, money and public humiliation.

For sure if "Google" can't do it, no one can. Maybe this is a satirical blog posting from that author, I'm just not sure.

It actually seems Google would be the least likely to succeed. Google has trouble seeing past their #1 ranking in Alexa. Google's entry into Health is based on a search engine foundation. Sure, many people need a good solid search engine, but many people also ride the subway. It should follow that a subway car is a fantastic place for health services: captive audience, in-line with daily life-flow, so what's the issue? Is a restroom a good place to sell shoes? How about reading the news in the shower. health services from a search engine? maybe we just need to be more patient, and open our minds to the essence of material things. Maybe Google isn't really a search engine. After all, can something really be defined based simply on how some people use it? I quite often use my cat as a doorstop. At what point is my cat more doorstop than cat? does it depend on how you look at it? what if I use my desk as a "ladder" to change a lightbulb? is it a desk, or a ladder? search engine or health services provider? when it matters is when you make assumptions about how many people will use their cat as a doorstop simply because you have marketed the idea....

Making the Front door to Healthcare Bigger....

I just read a fantastic whitepaper produced by PwC on the measures being taken to, and the impact of, making healthcare more accessible. The basic gist of it is: the current state of healthcare in the US is not great, due to many variables including technology inefficiences, misuse of medical resources, and lack of patient accountability for their own medical well being. The nice thing about this wehitepaper is the density of statistics that have been provided. This is hard data that is "hard" to come by, but is certainly what everyone wants to see. the whitepaper describes a situation that will worsen with the advent of potential policy change that would open the door for Universal health coverage, BUT, also points to some meaningful statistics concerning patient willingness to try electronic forms of consultation, monitoring, and treatment. its an important whitepaper, I suggest you take a look.http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/survey-consumers-psyched-about-telemedical-remote-monitoring/2009-07-27