Health 2.0: The New Prescription Says 'Online'

Remember the swine flu bout that hit the world not a long time ago. Information about this never-before-heard ailment flooded the Internet and our world. Wherever you were on the Net, everyone and everything was talking about swine flu. Blogs to exclusive social media communities were created to talk about this disease that had swept one and all with panic. People became cautious about travelling and using public transport. In such a scenario, Web 2.0 practices largely came to the rescue of today’s net-savvy citizen, who picked up tips and preventive measures to avoid falling prey to the dreaded devil doing the rounds.

The swine flu attack period showed us how the way information is dispersed and health awareness is spread has changed radically over the years. The integration of Web 2.0 with healthcare practices has led to the emergence of a new concept called Health 2.0, which is silently changing the face of the healthcare industry globally. Where does this leave healthcare professionals, patients and other stakeholders in the healthcare delivery chain? Biztech2.com tries to get some answers.

More from Biztech

Future Group - Reliance Retail Deal approved by CCI RBI ban on cryptocurrencies takes effect; prohibition could force investors to tap the black market

Neena Pahuja, CIO-Max Healthcare, says, “Health 2.0 is definitely a platform, which has the potential to change the face of the entire healthcare industry. In fact, we really hope that people realise the significance of this platform and leverage it to its full potential.” Max Healthcare has started several communities on Facebook about cancer and many other diseases, which have doctors on board too. “Our doctors inform the masses about the aliment and also urge them to take tests that can help in prevention and early diagnosis. It is a very powerful tool and we encourage everyone in our company to make full use of it,” adds Pahuja.

Anurag Dubey, Industry Manager, Health IT & Healthcare Delivery Practice, South Asia & Middle East, Frost & Sullivan says, “In the long term, the cost of healthcare will definitely reduce when new clinical pathways will evolve out of this sharing of information across the globe. The information sharing among various stakeholders – physicians, diagnostics, pharmacists, patients etc – will help clinicians in better decision making in certain clinical conditions, thus, improving patient care, time of treatment and cost as well.”

Curative to Preventive: Healthcare Rides the Wave with Web 2.0

Arvind Saraf, co-founder, Swasth India, a social business working towards improving the health of low-income segments in urban and rural India, agrees and further adds, “Health 2.0 provides data for the design of better preventive mechanisms. So it has an option of contributing to make the designs of preventive programs better, but more so at an organisational/ broad intervention level, not at the individual level per se.”

This statement works in tandem with the trend that we see in the industry today. Preventing a disease before it hits home is how we discuss health now-a-days. Pahuja says, “The healthcare approach is changing from being a curative one to a preventive one in the industry. In fact, we see this trend shaping the next-generation of business models. For example, medical tests will now be conducted to avert a disease rather than treat it.”

Agrees Dubey and adds that most of the healthcare providers and related stakeholders are currently focusing more on preventive care by organising programs and activities to increase awareness about various diseases and their prevention. The focus on preventive care is one of the reasons why the wellness industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30 percent as per Frost & Sullivan figures. “With increasing awareness about fitness and wellbeing, people are taking up services of fitness and wellness centres like never before,” he says.

__PAGEBREAK__
Information Empowers the Consumer

Pahuja feels that the improved awareness among the masses is due to access to Wikipedia pages and several blogs related to health and fitness. “The patient, who comes to us these days, is an informed one. He knows that if he is having a heart ache, there is a chance that he might get a heart attack in the future. He also knows what basic medicines to use to avoid such a scenario because he has already searched the Net for his symptoms.”

Pahuja adds that patients today also want to talk to other patients, who have been inflicted with the same ailment and share their experiences. “This is another area where Health 2.0 as a concept comes in handy. It becomes so much easier for a patient to connect to another one, and either of them could be located anywhere in the world. It helps them to deal with their condition better and could lead to better clinical outcomes as far as treatment of diseases is concerned.”

However, R S Tyagi, CIO-AIIMS, begs to differ in this context. Tyagi says, “When there is too much of patient-patient interaction happening, there is a good chance of panic spreading over nothing. People in our country tend to get panicked easily if help is not offered in time. For example, if one is going through a problem and he/ she discusses it with someone else, the other one will start feeling that he/ she is also going through the same problem because he/ she may have a few non-descript symptoms”.

If an overload of information can lead to panic, the timely dispersal of relevant information can avoid it too. Saraf says, “If people are constantly talking healthcare, the information that they share can also help them to differentiate the symptoms of a major ailment from those of a minor one. They will then not go to a doctor for every little thing and can also take basic measures on their own to avoid health problems.”

The Healthcare Provider Gains too

Saraf says, “The unification of data with the help of Web 2.0 platforms will help in gauging the measure of the impact created by the treatment much more objectively. With the patient history placed in an organised manner and available with a few clicks (EMR solutions), the progress of the patient can be measured in a much better fashion. Delivering medical aid can also be easy as one now can interpret better the conditions of the patient based on his or her history. There is need for automation of medical data management in the healthcare industry.” He further adds that when the data is digitised, the doctor can organise the same easily and in a better fashion. It thus helps in improving efficiency of the medical professional as he can now focus his energies better on diagnosis and treatment.

Apart from patient-patient interaction, Health 2.0 can also be instrumental in doctor-doctor information sharing without the concerns of physical boundaries. Dubey says, “Doctors can share clinical insights with other consultants for opinions on complex conditions, thus resulting in better treatment/ care of patients. Doctors can get insights on new clinical pathways from various discussions, case studies, forums etc. This will result in improved clinical pathways for patients with particular clinical conditions. This may reduce the time period of treatment and cost for patients”.
__PAGEBREAK__Validation, a Benefit or a Concern?

With people interacting more about health as a concept, a logical topic of conversation would also be the providers of healthcare. Saraf says, “There is a need for a mechanism to keep in check the facilities provided by a hospital and its doctors as well. If there is a culture where people are blogging about it, it will make them accountable and they will also be concerned about their image. This void that is there right now can be filled with the help of Health 2.0”.

If one can know where healthcare providers stand through Web 2.0 interactions, the other side of the story remains to be discussed. Global healthcare agencies and patient groups should get together and put in place mechanisms to validate the pool of information that is today available on the Net. Certification and validation will make all this information more authentic and useful.

Not a Totally Smooth Ride

‘Opposition is a natural part of life’ said Stephen R Covey, author of the best-selling book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’. What are the challenges that are obstructing the progress of Health 2.0 in our country? According to Saraf and Pahuja, the biggest issue lies in the fact that not everyone in the country is connected to the Net.

Dr Balaji Utla, PhD and CEO of Health Management and Research Institute (HMRI), says, “Health 2.0 as a concept is restricted to the middle-class strata of the society. It hasn’t reached the rural areas as yet where it can be used optimally as it reduces the cost of healthcare significantly. Although the government is providing last-mile connectivity, it will be some time before it will be able to connect the entire county to the World Wide Web”.

Dubey says that the security of patient information is also a huge concern. Further, the technological readiness of all stakeholders for leveraging this platform is missing. Adoption/ usage of technology by patients across strata and segments of society is also a challenge. “A global growth partnership is needed. Company regulatory and legal issues related to information collection and management also need to be sorted out. Privacy issues associated with sharing information on the Web and validity or authentication of information published are also concerns that are making many reluctant to adopt this platform,” he says.

No Looking Back

Drawing inferences from the views of industry experts mentioned above, it is safe to say that although the present of this platform is marred by certain challenges, the future seems promising enough. Health 2.0 is here to stay and change the way we live our lives incorporating the practices of wellness and health into our routines.