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Observations from a Week on the Road

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a couple of conferences and speak at each of them. I wanted to share both my presentations and my observations from these two trips. I think there’s a little something for everyone.

Conference one was ePatient Connections in Philadelphia to start off the week. As I’ve said before, this is one of my favorite conferences of the year for a few reasons. First, it’s a diverse audience and group of speakers. There is certainly a lot of healthcare-specific content, but there are also presentations from outside healthcare (including the keynote talk from Seth Godin). I’ll tell you why I think this is important later. Second, each speaker gets 15 minutes max. That means a fast-moving conference that keeps your interest. It means that you get just enough from the really good presentations and the bad ones are over soon enough. Fortunately, there aren’t too many bad ones at this conference, but I know you’ve seen them before at other conferences (especially when they last 45-60 minutes).
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What is the Future of Healthcare? [Video Presentation]

For those who follow this blog, you probably know that I’ve talked about where I see healthcare headed in the future. In particular, I’ve talked a lot about how digital technology will change the way healthcare is delivered in the future and will ultimately be what makes us more successful at preventing, treating, and curing diseases. It’s a little counter to the way the current system is set up, which primarily relies on big, new drug discoveries to deliver the biggest advances. I believe in something a bit different. We’ll get more value out of investments in using existing and creating new digital technologies for healthcare than we’ll get from new drug breakthroughs.

Sure, I could get thrown out of the industry for that, but it’s what I believe.

For those who don’t believe me, I invite you to check out the presentation I gave last week at ePharma West. I talked about why the current system isn’t working, what might work, and what we’ll have to do differently to make our healthcare system more effective. You can watch and listen to my presentation below. Try it in HD and full screen to see the details (also try turning scaling off…there’s button you can click in the player after going full screen). If you want a copy of my slides, you can get them here:  What is the Future of Healthcare (719 downloads).

After watching the video, I invite you to leave your comments and let me know your opinion. Am I right on or completely off?

What Healthcare Educators Can Learn from John Madden

You’re probably thinking that I’m really stretching for some context with today’s post, but keep reading and I’m sure you’ll see the connection between John Madden and healthcare education. For those who don’t know, John Madden is a former NFL (American football for the non-US folks) coach and current announcer. He is also the namesake of one of the most popular video game franchises of all-time, Madden NFL from EA Sports. This game comes out as a new version each year and all-time has sold tens of millions of copies. It’s a must-purchase for many gamers.

One of the critical health issues facing NFL is concussions. In the past, concussions didn’t receive much attention and coaches routinely sent players back into the game after they “cleared their head” or “shook the cobwebs out.” Of course, a concussion is a potentially serious brain injury where the brain actually is bruised by hitting the inside of the skull. This is an all too typical occurence in football especially that the NFL level where players are much faster, stronger, and more aggressive than the amateur level. However, one of the few parts of the body you can’t strengthen to better withstand injuries is your brain. So, while players hit harder and more aggressively, their brains can still only withstand the same impact. Up until last year when the NFL implemented new rules regarding concussions, most players were sent back into the game as soon as possible. Now they are supposed to be kept from returning to the game if a concussion is diagnosed. (Click to read the rest…)

Your Computer Is the Next Wonder Drug (Video)

For those who have been following the blog, you know that I recently spoke at the SXSW conference in Austin (more details here including why pharma companies should care). My talk was entitled: Your Computer Is the Next Wonder Drug.

The idea is simple and here’s how I described the talk on the SXSW site:

A few times each year, the press buzzes about the latest scientific advance that will someday cure any one of the diseases we fear the most. Nearly every one of these will turn out to be nothing more than a news story and far from a pill that can help improve our health.

We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every day on research, as we struggle to find the “magic bullet” that will rid the world of conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. We almost never find the magic.

While the big, historic scientific advances may be what dominate the headlines, in the end, it’s the small improvements and better utilization of the technology we have already have that will ultimately lengthen ourlives and improve its quality. These technologies don’t come from labs filled with test tubes or cell cultures, but rather from labs filled with computers and the programs that run them.

In the future, it will be digital technologies that prevent, treat, and finally cure diseases and not the latest “blockbuster” drug that has yet to be discovered (and might never be). Digital technologies can already help us understand which treatments are best for us, what diseases pose the greatest risk, and how diseases spread among us. They can improve our interactions with doctors and improve access to care for everyone.

Instead of waiting for the next miracle drug to be developed, you might find the miracle was there all along right inside the computer you use every day.

You’ll be hearing and seeing more about this topic on Dose of Digital in the future. It’s going to be the focus of a book I’m working on that I hope you’ll get to see sometime in the not terribly distant future (but think in terms of years, not months).
(Click to read the rest…)

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