After procrastinating for three days I am glad to finally write this blogpost. The title of the blogpost makes my intentions very clear. I hope you are not left even with an iota of doubt. My aim is to basically make being diseased a pleasant experience(Err... Really? Yup kind of).
I wish to propose a 2020 that brings the Patient, Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, Pathologists, Medical Insurance Companies and Fitness trainers together by means of a common web based interface which facilitates the creation of a dedicated Professional and a consumer web (along the lines of Facebook, but consumers would'nt interact amongst each other although Professionals would), where everyone(mentioned above) has an account and an interface of their own. The Patient would have a choice in such an interface to add medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, Pathologists and Medical Insurance companies of his/her choice.
Such a thing does'nt really exist as of now, but once it gets created it will eliminate some of the greatest challenges of the Healthcare Industry, in both the developed as well as the developing world (I wish India becomes a part of the former, by then.) Most importantly, I am sure that our present Bizarro world will give way for a paperless digitalised world by then, where all documents are digitalised. So, its gonna be like wrapping all your documents with a layer of technology. What makes me feel that is the Tablet war between the Apple Ipad, BlackBerry Playbook and other array of Windows and Android powered devices.
1) Doctors: It goes without saying, doctors wouldn't have to generate hand written prescriptions, the web interface would make soft copies for that and the doctors will have prescription-less clinics.
Instead of the Pharmacy retail outlets generating Prescription numbers the dedicated Web Interface (part of the Professional web) at a Doctor's clinic would do that and intimate the Pharmacist(as selected by the patient in his/her consumer web-interface) about it.
When a patient should require certain diagnosis to be done it'll be intimated to the Pathologist(as selected by the patient in his/her web-interface) directly through the Professional web interface, who would do that and send it across to the doctor and patient simultaneously.
2) Medical Insurance Companies: Medical insurance claims will get dispersed by a mouse-click as the insurance companies will have real-time access to patient's present condition, Diagnosis Reports etc. through their dedicated web interface (a consolidated Consumer and Social web).
3) Pharmacists:- With the Doctor already having generated the Prescription number, the Pharmacist would know which Patient is expected. So, it'll allow the pharmacist to get the medicines dispensed in advance and the patient would not have to wait on his/her arrival at the Pharmacy Retail outlet. The Pharmacy will also know when the patient should require a refill, because of the presence of the prescription number already in their database, so they can get it delivered or ask the customer to pick up as per his/her convenience. This can also probably lead to the concept of Drive-thru Pharmacies (just like drive-thru restaurants) for collecting refill medication supplies. The Pharmacists can also deploy various targetted videos, podcasts etc. to counsel patients with similar diseases.
It'll also check the use of prescription drugs and help curb the menace of self-prescription in the developing world, especially India.
4) Pathologists: When the doctor would request a diagnosis, the pathologists would just have to put their machines to work and the results generated by the machine would be conveyed to the common Web interface, which would then be converted to a human readable format and would add comments on the basis of certain pre-set parameters, thereby optimising it for the Professional and the Consumer web. The results can thus be instantly conveyed to the Doctor and the Patient.
5) Patients: Imagine a world where a child gets born and gets registered for an account on the Consumer Web on the basis of the parent's credentials and the interface finally delivers the child his/her birth certificate.The interface further maintains a record about the child's vaccination schedule and sends reminders to the concerned Doctor and Parents on a regular basis via email and/or SMS.
By having all his/her health and medication information in his account, it should get a lot easier for a patient to change his/her Physician or even take a second opinion in case of a chronic or serious ailment. For the patient its going to be more secure to have that all stored in one place on the web so as to get access to it whenever needed. The Patients can also get answers to their specific questions from the doctor in a whole lot convenient way.
The patient should get regular reminders from the Web interface to consume medicines in accordance with the prescribed schedule via SMS/email.
When such a web-interface gets accessible through smartphones, tablets and other gadgets the patient will feel more empowered as he/she will have access to his/her medical information at the click of a button.
6) Pharma Companies: Such an interface can allow Pharma Companies' Social Media initiatives to be better targetted to only their customers or Potential Customers. Companies will also be able to interact with their consumers and suggest better ways to optimise the use of certain products in association with Professional Pharmacists.
7) Fitness Professionals: With the optimisation of the web interface for smartphones and further creation of applications that go beyond the Nike+Ipod capabilities that exist in today's world, users will be able to keep track of their workout regimes in a better way and set out new targets. This will lead to better reporting of the data in real time to the fitness trainers as well.
8) Advertising World: Such a thing would bring out great targeted advertising opportunities in the Healthcare space. Patients, Doctors, Pharmacists, Pathologists, Fitness Professionals and Pharma companies can be served with ads meant specifically for them. This would enhance the ad agency's reach and would ensure a faster ROI for the advertiser, thereby transforming brands and businesses alike.
All this is crucial because it'll make Healthcare delivery, PATIENT CENTRIC. The service providers in the healthcare sector will not only be able to satisfy their customer's standards but will also initiate setting their own standards in developing new products and services and as a result breed happy customers.
P.S: This may well seem to be the screenplay of a sci-fi movie to you today, but it'll definitely be a reality, probably ten years down the line.
I am sure this can be incorporated into IBM's smarter planet campaign today. Whenever it happens and whichever company does it, do remember you read it in the year 2010 on tecHeal.
Did you find this post useful? If so, please give it a Tweet or Like on Facebook!
I wish to propose a 2020 that brings the Patient, Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, Pathologists, Medical Insurance Companies and Fitness trainers together by means of a common web based interface which facilitates the creation of a dedicated Professional and a consumer web (along the lines of Facebook, but consumers would'nt interact amongst each other although Professionals would), where everyone(mentioned above) has an account and an interface of their own. The Patient would have a choice in such an interface to add medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, Pathologists and Medical Insurance companies of his/her choice.
Such a thing does'nt really exist as of now, but once it gets created it will eliminate some of the greatest challenges of the Healthcare Industry, in both the developed as well as the developing world (I wish India becomes a part of the former, by then.) Most importantly, I am sure that our present Bizarro world will give way for a paperless digitalised world by then, where all documents are digitalised. So, its gonna be like wrapping all your documents with a layer of technology. What makes me feel that is the Tablet war between the Apple Ipad, BlackBerry Playbook and other array of Windows and Android powered devices.
1) Doctors: It goes without saying, doctors wouldn't have to generate hand written prescriptions, the web interface would make soft copies for that and the doctors will have prescription-less clinics.
Instead of the Pharmacy retail outlets generating Prescription numbers the dedicated Web Interface (part of the Professional web) at a Doctor's clinic would do that and intimate the Pharmacist(as selected by the patient in his/her consumer web-interface) about it.
When a patient should require certain diagnosis to be done it'll be intimated to the Pathologist(as selected by the patient in his/her web-interface) directly through the Professional web interface, who would do that and send it across to the doctor and patient simultaneously.
2) Medical Insurance Companies: Medical insurance claims will get dispersed by a mouse-click as the insurance companies will have real-time access to patient's present condition, Diagnosis Reports etc. through their dedicated web interface (a consolidated Consumer and Social web).
3) Pharmacists:- With the Doctor already having generated the Prescription number, the Pharmacist would know which Patient is expected. So, it'll allow the pharmacist to get the medicines dispensed in advance and the patient would not have to wait on his/her arrival at the Pharmacy Retail outlet. The Pharmacy will also know when the patient should require a refill, because of the presence of the prescription number already in their database, so they can get it delivered or ask the customer to pick up as per his/her convenience. This can also probably lead to the concept of Drive-thru Pharmacies (just like drive-thru restaurants) for collecting refill medication supplies. The Pharmacists can also deploy various targetted videos, podcasts etc. to counsel patients with similar diseases.
It'll also check the use of prescription drugs and help curb the menace of self-prescription in the developing world, especially India.
4) Pathologists: When the doctor would request a diagnosis, the pathologists would just have to put their machines to work and the results generated by the machine would be conveyed to the common Web interface, which would then be converted to a human readable format and would add comments on the basis of certain pre-set parameters, thereby optimising it for the Professional and the Consumer web. The results can thus be instantly conveyed to the Doctor and the Patient.
5) Patients: Imagine a world where a child gets born and gets registered for an account on the Consumer Web on the basis of the parent's credentials and the interface finally delivers the child his/her birth certificate.The interface further maintains a record about the child's vaccination schedule and sends reminders to the concerned Doctor and Parents on a regular basis via email and/or SMS.
By having all his/her health and medication information in his account, it should get a lot easier for a patient to change his/her Physician or even take a second opinion in case of a chronic or serious ailment. For the patient its going to be more secure to have that all stored in one place on the web so as to get access to it whenever needed. The Patients can also get answers to their specific questions from the doctor in a whole lot convenient way.
The patient should get regular reminders from the Web interface to consume medicines in accordance with the prescribed schedule via SMS/email.
When such a web-interface gets accessible through smartphones, tablets and other gadgets the patient will feel more empowered as he/she will have access to his/her medical information at the click of a button.
6) Pharma Companies: Such an interface can allow Pharma Companies' Social Media initiatives to be better targetted to only their customers or Potential Customers. Companies will also be able to interact with their consumers and suggest better ways to optimise the use of certain products in association with Professional Pharmacists.
7) Fitness Professionals: With the optimisation of the web interface for smartphones and further creation of applications that go beyond the Nike+Ipod capabilities that exist in today's world, users will be able to keep track of their workout regimes in a better way and set out new targets. This will lead to better reporting of the data in real time to the fitness trainers as well.
8) Advertising World: Such a thing would bring out great targeted advertising opportunities in the Healthcare space. Patients, Doctors, Pharmacists, Pathologists, Fitness Professionals and Pharma companies can be served with ads meant specifically for them. This would enhance the ad agency's reach and would ensure a faster ROI for the advertiser, thereby transforming brands and businesses alike.
All this is crucial because it'll make Healthcare delivery, PATIENT CENTRIC. The service providers in the healthcare sector will not only be able to satisfy their customer's standards but will also initiate setting their own standards in developing new products and services and as a result breed happy customers.
P.S: This may well seem to be the screenplay of a sci-fi movie to you today, but it'll definitely be a reality, probably ten years down the line.
I am sure this can be incorporated into IBM's smarter planet campaign today. Whenever it happens and whichever company does it, do remember you read it in the year 2010 on tecHeal.
Did you find this post useful? If so, please give it a Tweet or Like on Facebook!
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