It's easy to imagine a future when your phone knows you more than your doctor. It's also not difficult to foresee the future of healthcare's challenges.
All in Healthcare
You have a healthcare product idea? Avoid these 5 dead-on-arrival mistakes
The healthcare industry is different. Full of dichotomies.
Medical pursuits in longevity
In 1956, Clive McCay, a scientist from Cornell and his team conjoined 69 pairs of rats to study the effect of revitalizing the old with the blood of the young. After months of conjoining, the bones of some older rats became similar in density and strength to that of the young.
When we forget what we are here for
People are usually drawn to healthcare because of a certain calling. A strong desire to be of service to others. To innovate. To make a difference. It's particularly true for doctors and nurses who are on the forefront of medicine.
How an ancient shamanic ritual gave me insight into disease
Ismael Romero Ochanavo Sanchez seems like an unlikely shaman from the Amazon. As he steps into the house, I see him remove cool looking sports shoes - the ones with an additional flap over laces. He’s dressed in casual-tight pants with a t-shirt and jacket.
Diseases have changed. Why hasn't our mindset?
We still behave as though our primary killers are communicable diseases.
Ebola, one of the deadliest infectious diseases, set the world on fire recently. It killed 11,315 people - almost none in the rich world.
Contrast that with heart disease that kills 610,000 people just in the U.S.
The wider context of patient engagement
We don't invest as much time in understanding the broader context of the patient in front of us. The before/after factors that we don’t see. But have far reaching impact on care.
A few days ago, I shadowed a patient through a day procedure. From the time that the nurse checked her weight to the time that she was discharged.
A dance called health insurance reimbursement
Health insurance is surely important. It protects people from the financial burden of falling sick. It extends timely access to care.
Insurance companies have today become the bridge that doctors and patients traverse everyday in delivering and receiving care.
Rethinking government's role in healthcare
There's a lot of debate about government's role in healthcare. Much of our attention is focused on fixing sickness not preventing disease.
We obsess about availability of doctors, hospital beds, staff and infrastructure to treat sick people. We don't debate enough about government's role in maintaining health of its population.
Let's talk more openly about profitability in healthcare
Dr. John Noseworthy, chief executive of the world renowned Mayo Clinic, recently said in an internal meeting that they must "prioritize" commercial insurances over Medicaid (insurance for the poor).
Commercial insurances pay better and contribute to better margins. Medicaid, a government insurance, pays much less and is possibly a loss-leader.
The missing operating system in healthcare
At HIMSS 2017, IBM's chief Ginni Rometty reassured in a keynote that there will be "new collar jobs" because of advances in cloud computing, data, and AI.
We are bravely marching towards cognitive computing in healthcare. However, the world of healthcare technology is dotted with isolated islands that make this march a huge challenge.
After 21 years, I'm done with my chronic disease. Here's that story
Just as I turned an adult, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure.
One day, as I ran up the stairs of my engineering college, I had an urge to throw up.
I told my family about it. We soon visited a doctor.
When checked, my BP was high. The doctor promptly put me on a beta-blocker to protect me from heart disease.
That was more than 21 years ago.
With patients, trust comes before engagement (Part 2)
I don't even want to see my doc unless I really have to. She is so busy, the whole time she just inputs data, and then bye-bye. - A patient on a forum.
By the way, did Hippocrates have to deal with MACRA, EULA's, CPTs, ICD-10's, HMO's, PPO's, MCO's, EMR's, MU's and HIPAA? Oh... and Malpractice lawyers advertising their glory on TV? Did not think so. - A doctor on a forum.
With patients, trust comes before engagement (Part 1)
Before managed care became the dominant force that it is, patients and doctors had the opportunity to get to know each other well.
Doctors treated multiple generations within families. This helped establish a strongbond among patients and their doctors.
While it might have intended to mean preventing expensive care, managed care began to mean organized care. Run by institutions such as Health Maintenance Organizations.
How to spot healthcare business ideas
Healthcare is a vast ocean. Extremely complex. Disjointed. Many branches and sub-branches, some of which are industries unto their own.
Working in the industry, you get so deep in your neck of the woods that there's no time to look up.