The 2018 Connected Health Conference (#Connect2Health) is the nation’s largest event dedicated to digital and connected health. Held annually in Boston, the event focuses on cutting-edge information technologies that support care delivery, health and wellness.
Presented by Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHAlliance), led by Richard Scarfo, and Partners Connected Health, led by Dr. Joseph Kvedar, this year’s program was outstanding. Speakers from across the industry came together to offer their expertise in format settings both large and small.
Weeks ago, I had the pleasure to join Dr. Kvedar’s podcast, and this week I had the chance to be interviewed by Tom Sullivan, the editor-in-chief of Healthcare IT News on the challenges, threats and opportunities in American healthcare today.
It was a detailed discussion in which I focused on the risks of disruption every industry faces when its prices exceed the value created. With care now costing more than $10,000 per person annually in the U.S., and with our healthcare quality ranked at the bottom of the 11 most industrialized nations, the American healthcare system officially qualifies for disruption.
Solutions will demand major shifts: from fragmentation to integration, from fee-for-service to capitation, from the fax machine to state of the art technological approaches.
On Thursday, I moderated a panel discussion titled “The Uber Primary Care Experience.” Joined the discussion were Andrew Diamond of One Medical Group, Rushika Fernandopulle of Iora Health and Katherine Ryder from Maven Clinic.
I began by asking how many people in the audience receive all of their medical care from clinicians using a comprehensive electronic health record (EHR)? Then I asked how many can schedule an appointment online? How many can schedule a video visit or send a digital photo to their doctor? For each question, less than half of the audience raised their hands. And a mere 10% lifted their arms when I asked about whether their personal information was available to all of their doctors through an EHR.
The panelists then described how their organizations were using modern technology to deliver medical care to a diverse set of patients. Each participant provided multiple examples of how technology can improve quality, make access more convenient and lower healthcare costs. I was particularly impressed by the fact that the overwhelming majority of their patients had availed themselves of virtual care in the past, and that each predicted an even higher percentage in the future.
Though each organization’s achievements and improvements were remarkable, I left the conference feeling ambivalent.
On one hand, the panel made it clear how easily we could improve healthcare in this nation – and the role new technologies could play in revolutionizing healthcare. On the other hand, healthcare’s legacy players are doing very well, economically, in today’s healthcare system. As a result, I worry they won’t embrace change until it’s too late.
(Image courtesy of Mary Gallagher)
Dr. Robert Pearl is the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, the nation’s largest physician group. He’s the bestselling author of “Mistreated: Why We Think We’re Getting Good Health Care–And Why We’re Usually Wrong” and a Stanford University professor. Follow him on Twitter @RobertPearlMD.
