The Convergence of Healthcare and IT
Peter Lewis, Director - Hydrix
Four different forces are aligning to drive the convergence of healthcare and IT
Rising Healthcare CostsIncreased use of IT by DoctorsEnabling TechnologyConsumer Empowerment
And these four forces are accelerating …
Rising Healthcare Costs
Ireland
Denmark
S. Korea
UK
Germany
Netherlands
FinlandSpainItaly
Sweden
SwitzerlandFrance
Australia
Canada
Japan
United States
US Health Care reachedUS$2.5Tn in 2009
(OECD, US Dept of Health Human Services, CSMG)
MediApps.com
Rising Healthcare Costs
Increased use of IT by Healthcare Professionals
99% of doctors physicians use the internet in their practices
80+% of nurses direct patients to health-related websites
Manhattan Research 2010
Enabling Technology
Freedomainradio.com
Consumer Empowerment
More than 13,000 health apps intended for use by consumers available for download in Apple’s AppStore + the plethora of sources of information…
Mobihealth News
The combination of the four forces driving the convergence is causing a steady migration of
responsibility for healthcare from
hospital clinician’s office home body
As a result we are seeing innovation across many areas:
Monitoring
PERS
Telemedicine
Mobile Medical Equipment
Mobile Health Info
RFID Tracking
Health & Fitness SW
How Big is the Personal Health Opportunity ?
So as a designer & developer of advanced medical devices, what am I hearing from our clients ?
Make devices people want to use
Make them intuitive and super easy to use
Make them as portable as possible
Make them cheap - not so much Capex but Opex
Develop smart phone front ends for consumer devices
Wireless-enable and location-enable everything
Battery life … battery life … battery life
And Finally….A Lesson from IndiaIt does not have to be expensive• 1.4bn people – 2bn cellphones• 300,00 remote and rural villages …. but all with cellphone towers• Occasional visiting nurses are the main source of healthcare information• Significant push by many companies to develop ultra-low cost cellphone based home and village health hubs• Now selling into Africa• Sub $50
Thank You !
Peter [email protected]