Track: Speech and paper session

Opportunities and evidence

Speaker

Mary Jo Deering Health Information Technology: Empowering consumers, patients and caregivers

Presenters

Edgard Eeckman Power to the patients? The influence of the internet as a source of health information on the power balance between patient and general practitioner
Chen Li and Ying Hua The role of online booking systems (gua hao wang) in transforming patient experience and China’s healthcare reform

Moderator

Mary Jo Deering, Deering Health Associates, Washington, D.C., USA

Objectives

In most health care systems around the world, knowledge, expertise, and decision-making has traditionally been presumed to reside exclusively with medical professionals. The advent of health information technologies – from informational web sites to “consumer apps” and wearable devices – has made it possible for individuals to not only access the latest research but also to manage their health and partner with their doctors as needed. Several trends are driving the movement toward more empowered, engaged patients (including healthy individuals, health care consumers, and family caregivers): U.S. and European health policies promote engagement as one means to improving the health of their populations[1]; medical thought leaders recognize that health care quality and outcomes are improved when patients participate in their care[2]; and the dynamic global technology sector is creating new capabilities and expectations.[3]

However, the widespread achievement of technology-enabled empowerment is far from assured, nor is the goal universally shared. The concept of patient empowerment itself is foreign to many patients as well as doctors. Deficiencies in policies and technologies create significant barriers.   Data hoarding and data exploitation are equal challenges.

[1] The U.S. Electronic Health Records Incentives Program includes patient and family engagement activities. http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.html/.   See also the First European Conference on Patient Empowerment. The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9827, Page 1677, 5 May 2012. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60699-0

[2] Institute of Medicine . Partnering with Patients to Drive Shared Decisions, Better Value, and Care Improvement. http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Quality/VSRT/2013-FEB-25.aspx

[3] For example, Apple’s Healthkit. http://www.applehealthkit.com/

Co-organisers

Deering Health Associates and Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (BCSSS)