Monday, October 7, 2013

Using Technology to Help People with Personal Health Decisions

---Terri Bernacchi, PharmD, MBA,  Cambria Health Advisory Professionals, Senior Partner at Valiant Health, SME Systems

The internet has certainly brought to be the age of “information” which does not necessarily mean that people using the internet can make “informed decisions” about their medical care.  It simply pulls up TOO much content, some of which might be relevant to the individual and some of which may actually introduce confusion which could foster misadventures and wasted resources. 
The use of “Social Media” can help isolated patients feel connected to others with similar conditions or in similar predicaments, empowering them to make better medical decisions or provide their own ‘self-care’. Unfortunately, it can also introduce harm if people lack contextual insight to sift through facts versus fiction.
 
At this time, people have little direct access to most of their own health data, and may be handicapped with an inability to understand it, even if they had it.  Thus, futurists are clamoring to develop a platform that analyzes and integrates their information with other sources of data.  In the world they envision, patients will be more engaged and have access to their information via mobile applications, including access to their Electronic Health Records. 
When this happens, some of the way things are currently done and the balance of power in terms of decision making will shift, creating a very different health care interaction between patient and provider. 
In the future, for example, some envision that “we will see technology, artificial intelligence and predictive data analytics” incorporated as part of the decision-making process.  This disruptive “voice of the computer” may not be far off.  See the attached opinion piece.
Terri is a Senior Partner at Valiant Health, LLC, and founder of Cambria Health Advisory Professionals and a Managing Partner at Quo Magis partners.  The thoughts put forth on these postings are not necessarily reflective of the views of her employers or clients nor other Valiant Health colleagues. Terri has had a varied career in health related settings including: 9 years in a clinical hospital pharmacy setting, 3 years as a pharmaceutical sales rep serving government, wholesaler, managed markets and traditional physician sales, 3 years working for the executive team of an integrated health system working with physician practices, 4 years as the director of pharmacy for a large BCBS plan, 12 years of experience as founder and primary servant of a health technology company which was sold to IMS Health in late 2007.  She has both a BS and a PharmD in Pharmacy and an MBA.