Health 2.0: The Companies

This is the third of three posts that I intended on the Health 2.0 conference which just ended in San Diego. This one is really just a laundry list of some of the companies that participated.
For sponsors, I was able to grab their logos:

 

For other companies, here is a quick list of some of [...]

Health 2.0: My Notes

I am just flying back from the Health 2.0 conference out in San Diego. I feel like there is a ton of information that I want to share so kudos to Matthew and Indu for the great job. (And, if you make it to the end of this post, you must really like [...]

Forrester on PHRs

In mid-November, Forrester put out a report titled “PHRs: From Evolution to Revolution” by Liz Boehm, their healthcare lead. It’s not my lead area so I didn’t spend the money to buy the report, but here is the executive summary.
Health plans, driven by employer demand and expectations of improved member satisfaction and reduced medical [...]

Setting Healthcare Goals

I have always been a big believer in using New Years as an excuse to think about my goals – what did I accomplish last year, what do I hope to accomplish in 2008, and what are my 5 and 10-year goals. With the exception of a few years, I have done this for most [...]

PHR – Key for Improving Senior Care???

In the AHIP (America’s Health Insurance Plans) magazine Coverage (Sept+Oct 2007), there is an article on using Personal Health Records to improve healthcare for seniors. I am reading it as I type my commentary here, but I start with some skepticism.

Apparently CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) commissioned a 18-month pilot to help [...]

Teaching Kids About Health

Having kids makes you think about things differently. I was playing an online game with my kids this weekend when I started thinking about how it could be used to influence them. The game is called Webkinz. It is an interesting business model where kids buy stuffed animals which have a code. [...]

Mashing Two of My Posts

I was thinking about Google’s SMS service earlier today (see post on this).  Separately, I was thinking about my post on remembering health information (e.g., drugs, strength, previous lab values).
So I went to one of the Google Health Blogs to suggest the idea.  Unfortunately, the e-mail they list bounces back and you can’t leave comments…strange.  [...]

Would You Use a Pharmacy Kiosk?

Another question from a few years ago that I thought I would throw out here [while I wait for my connecting flight in Charlotte]. Would you use a pharmacy kiosk to drop off your prescription and pick up your prescription as long as you had access to a pharmacist via video conference?
This was an idea [...]

Mashup Idea - Twitter + Telemedicine + Second Opinion

I spoke a little on Mashups the other day in my Geekipedia entry, and I was thinking about it yesterday while I ran.
Here are the concepts that could come together:

Realtime blogging through Twitter
Telemedicine especially around remote monitoring and access to experts
The need for quality assurance in healthcare for complex or even routine procedures
Transparency and the [...]

Scary or Interesting Technology

After my post the other night about analyzing your writing, I had a chance to talk with a technology company about how they digest and use text from things like letters, e-mails, and call recordings.  It was fascinating.  They were describing to me a system they developed for the military which is now available commercially.
They [...]

Geekipedia

Sure…a little off topic, but understanding technology is one of the critical components (in my humble opinion) to driving innovation and change in healthcare. Healthcare is not an early adopter of solutions. There is too much fear about change (and litigation).
So, when Wired but out this magazine supplement called Geekipedia, I knew it [...]

ConnectYourCare Acquired by Express Scripts

I was glad to see my former employer - Express Scripts - jump into the CDHC space with an acquisition.  They bought ConnectYourCare which is a fairly new company that had jumped into the market over the past few years with money from RevolutionHealth.  It provides online tools and a card for managing your HSA [...]

Medco Tour of Champions

I was surprised to see a full-page advertisement yesterday by Medco in USA Today about their Tour of Champions.  I knew they were focusing on therapeutic resource centers (i.e., pharmacies dedicated to specific disease states like diabetes).  It seems like a great idea.

It was interesting to go to the website - www.tourofchampions.com.  One of my [...]

Web 2.0 Presentation by John Sharp

John is a blogger at eHealth. I found this presentation by him on Web 2.0 technologies.

Microsoft’s HealthVault

Microsoft has their new healthcare tool out - HealthVault.  It does three primary things - search, collect / store / share (i.e., PHR), and connect with devices.  The “connect with devices” concept seems pretty interesting especially as we get more intelligent home care devices that track blood pressure and other key metrics. 
Connect your HealthVault-compatible home health [...]

Companies from Health 2.0

I thought it was interesting to catalog the companies that were at Matthew Holt’s Health 2.0 conference. Many of which I was not familiar with.
MedHelp.org (interesting site which offers Q&A by disease topic with MDs and nurses)
ThinkHealth (medical management software)
Health Evolution Partners (a private equity firm)

Medstory (intelligent search for health)
Healia (health search engine)
Healthline Networks (health [...]

Silverlink - My New Employer

After trying a few entrepreneurial things, I am excited to have accepted a job working with a consulting client of mine - Silverlink Communications. [I am also a former client of theirs from my time at Express Scripts.] The role is a good mix of entreprenerial and stability since they are a high [...]

Managing Medical Bills - Free Trial

As anyone who has done anything outside normal knows, getting and managing your medical claims can be very confusing.  When should you pay?  When should you resubmit?  When is it simply an error?
I was encouraged to learn about a new company MedBillManager which has recently secured some funding.  They have a blog where you can [...]

Google - Thoughts from another blogger

Anyone working in healthcare IT knows it is difficult to drive change - legacy systems, lots of constituents, no standards or years of trying to get one, regulatory issues, etc.
I liked Scott Shreeve’s letter to Marissa Mayer who is apparently taking over Google Health with Adam leaving.  As one might expect, Google’s presence in healthcare [...]

Patients Sharing HC Experiences & Cost

Obviously, a big part of true consumerism will be patients sharing information about their healthcare experiences (e.g., this doctor is great, you wait too long here, this drug gave me hives) and their costs (aka transparency).  There are several locations moving towards this especially around disease specific discussion groups.
One new site that contacted me is OutOfPocket.com.  [...]

MN to require eRx by 2011

I was a little surprised to see that the state of Minnesota is leading the pack in requiring that physicians use electronic prescribing by 2011 if they contract with the state employees. In theory, using an eRx software product like Purkinje, Allscripts, or Prematics, should reduce errors and save patients money (more generics, more [...]

Automated Calling Technology

I have had the chance to work with one of my previous vendors on their PBM strategy.  I find it to be a fascinating space - automated call technology.  They are at the heart of the consumerism push and work for 45 healthcare companies today.
Since a call center is often too expensive and often the [...]

BPM Lessons Learned

So…many of you thought I was going to offer some BPM lessons learned the other day.  Here they are:

If you jump right to technology, you will go backwards and have to do process mapping and/or reengineering.  Additionally, your project will take longer because you don’t understand your metrics and the business side.
BPM done right will [...]

The Art of Ware

I was just skimming a story from Guy Kawasaki’s blog about The Art of ‘Ware by Bruce Webster.  I was a little skeptic, but Guy always has great instincts.  I read a few of the chapters in the book and think you would enjoy it.  Especially if you work with or at a software company.
Here [...]