For the first time in its nearly three-year history, the Health 2.0 Conference convened in Washington, D.C., this week. Previous conferences have been held in California, Florida, Massachusetts and Europe, but organizers weren't sure Washington was ready for the Health 2.0 movement. That's clearly changed. With the 2009 federal stimulus package's hefty investment in health IT and the new health reform law, it's clear the tide's changing.
Indu Subaiya, co-founder of the Health 2.0 Conference, noted that when she and Matthew Holt started the conference series a few years ago, there were about 30 Health 2.0 companies. Today, there are more than 1,000 Health 2.0 organizations, she said.
Similar to past conferences, the event featured a slew of demos of health 2.0 tools, including ScanAvert -- a system that lets users scan food labels with their cell phones to get information about allergies, drug reactions and food recalls -- and Polka -- a mobile- and Web-based tool that lets users enter information about medications, pain, weight and other issues and then share that data with their doctors.
Patients Get Seat at the Table
In a noticeable shift, every panel at Monday's Health 2.0 Conference included at least one patient.
Trisha Torrey, who writes the Every Patient's Advocate Blog, urged attendees to "ask patients" for input when developing new tools and policy. She noted that many of the terms thrown around -- like "meaningful use" -- often are meaningless to patients.
Regina Holliday highlighted her struggle to obtain her husband's medical records as he was battling cancer as a sober reminder that the country's health care system is broken.
Carol Diamond -- managing director of the Markle Foundation's Health Program -- echoed similar sentiments, noting that she recently was unsuccessful in requesting electronic copies of medical images from her doctor. She said that affording patients access to downloadable medical information would have an enormous impact. She urged patients to ask for their electronic health information as a way to change expectations.
Josh Sommer founded the Chordoma Foundation after being diagnosed with chordoma, a rare bone cancer of the skull and spine, as a freshman at Duke University. In addition to funding research, Sommer's foundation strives to close information gaps among researchers and institutions.
Federal Officials Eye Health 2.0 Community
The federal government is beginning to take notice of the Health 2.0 community, with representatives from HHS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Obama administration in attendance on Monday.
Wil Yu, director of innovation at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, started the conference by acknowledging that "health care isn't an easy place for innovation." Still he urged the audience to continue pushing innovation and to convince others of its value.
Farzad Mostashari -- deputy national coordinator for programs and policy at ONC who filled in at the last minute for National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal -- said that fostering innovation and using the market is a key principle driving decision-making at ONC.
Todd Park, chief technology officer as HHS, said that the government wants to make available more data at the federal and state levels that entrepreneurs, health care providers and researchers could use to improve patient care.
Last week, federal officials announced the Health 2.0 Development Challenge, in which prizes will be awarded for the most innovative applications using newly released health data through HHS' Community Health Data Initiative.
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra said at the conference that the data will be "used in ways we cannot even imagine."
Chopra also announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an $80 million Innovation Initiative, or VAi2, to seek private sector solutions to some of the department's largest problems.
Specifically, the competition is targeting innovation to address:
- Homelessness;
- Telehealth;
- Dialysis and Renal Disease Prevention;
- Multi-trauma care; and
- Adverse drug events.
Last month, VA announced the winners of an innovation competition among its employees.
Challenge Back to the Federal Government
Jamie Heywood, co-founder and chair of PatientsLikeMe, issued a challenge back to the federal officials attending the Health 2.0 Conference to "change what we pay for."
In response to federal officials' pleas for the private sector to lead health care innovation, Heywood said, "Stop thinking entrepreneurs are going to save this."
He said the federal government should establish a market that pays for valuable health 2.0 tools and increase funding to encourage entrepreneurs to continue to innovate.