"A hospital is no place to be sick", Samuel Goldwyn (from MGM) once said.
And he was right. Because ultimately nobody wants to be in the hospital. But we cannot deny the fact that everyone will be a patient sooner or later. Maybe short and only irregular if you're lucky - or for long periods and often, if you are the not so lucky.
Healthcare is an industry. An industry that affects billions and employs millions. An industry means a business. And businesses are there to help their customers and offer products and services that they want. Well, they should.
The healthcare industry, and the medical field in general, has always been keen on technical innovation. During the last century some amazing technical innovations have seen the limelight: penicillin, the artificial kidney (invented by a Dutchie) or robotic surgery, just to name a few. And technological innovation growth seems to be exponential. Which means that we now see the developments in mobile (mhealth) and nan technology changing the face of healthcare.
But there are two even more important changes in healthcare (in my opinion).
The first is that healthcare is not about the patient - which is "bon ton" at the moment (search for patient-centered). Delivering and receiving healthcare is about a network of people involved: patients, e-patients, family, caregivers, insurer, colleagues etcetera.
The second import change is about the people that change healthcare. It is no longer only in the hands of professionals only (research, decision makers, CEOs). More and more often patients take control in creating the best healthcare experience there is. Wonderful examples of this can be seen in the stories of ePatientDave or Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald.
(checkout out the stories of &ePatientDave of Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald).
Therefore innovation in healthcare is innovating the whole service: service design (with agencies like IDEO or 31volts showing the way). Technology is a part of an experience created by and for people. This thinking in networks, services and sharing has recently resulted in a new name that rightfully reflects what the future of healthcare is really about: participatory medicine. The Society of Participatory Medicine (and the accompanying Journal of Participatory Medicine) provide inspiration and pratical examples of how people together, information and technology can co-create a better future for healthcare. Because in healthcare you're not alone.
Check out this presentation that shows Maarten Lens Fitzgerald story:
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