Not so long ago, I think ELB asked for a new topic.....was it on "prospective" payment for physicians a la New England Journal of Medicine article? Let me know ELB and we can fit that one in somewhere along our conversation route.
But it gets me to thinking, that we are in a new world of health literacy not only for physicians just to understand what prospective payment means but for the public and patients to understand their role in their own health care.
Granted, not everyone will be able to become literate in their own health care but I hazard an educated guess that the majority will. Trouble is, many physicians, politicians, health policy types and administrators tend to see patients as illiterate or pretty close. This is all very unfortunate since people are going to need to become more aware of how to manage their health care.
This starts with health literacy.
Empowering and educating patients in their own care will require an understanding of health terms and how to use the system including medical social networking sites and mhealth. Forget Michael Decter's book on how to navigate the Canadian health care system-that was obsolete before it was published. Just look at the ease with which anybody under the age of 75 manages a mobile phone, sends photos electronically and surfs the internet.
The majority of the public can do this and those who can't will need government support. Fine, but to think that government can spend billions and billions on failed eHealth strategies because of the government centralized one-size-fits-all-especially-the-consultants approach, well, we would be doomed to fall and fail endlessly.
Social networking sites are likely to take on a significant new role in health care but establishing reliable sites guided by the medical profession or another respected source will be the real catch.
How long will it take for the health care leadership in Ontario or Canada to figure this one out.
By the way, I hear that an auditor's report on the federal version of Ontario's eHealth, Canada Health Infoway, will be out in early November. It should be interesting.
I'll post some links in the comment section and don't forget to visit the twitter link if this sort of thing interests you.
Welcome to our newcomers and thanks for the fascinating contributions from all of you.
Not so long ago, I think ELB asked for a new topic.....was it on "prospective" payment for physicians a la New England Journal of Medicine article? Let me know ELB and we can fit that one in somewhere along our conversation route.
But it gets me to thinking, that we are in a new world of health literacy not only for physicians just to understand what prospective payment means but for the public and patients to understand their role in their own health care.
Granted, not everyone will be able to become literate in their own health care but I hazard an educated guess that the majority will. Trouble is, many physicians, politicians, health policy types and administrators tend to see patients as illiterate or pretty close. This is all very unfortunate since people are going to need to become more aware of how to manage their health care.
This starts with health literacy.
Empowering and educating patients in their own care will require an understanding of health terms and how to use the system including medical social networking sites and mhealth. Forget Michael Decter's book on how to navigate the Canadian health care system-that was obsolete before it was published. Just look at the ease with which anybody under the age of 75 manages a mobile phone, sends photos electronically and surfs the internet.
The majority of the public can do this and those who can't will need government support. Fine, but to think that government can spend billions and billions on failed eHealth strategies because of the government centralized one-size-fits-all-especially-the-consultants approach, well, we would be doomed to fall and fail endlessly.
Social networking sites are likely to take on a significant new role in health care but establishing reliable sites guided by the medical profession or another respected source will be the real catch.
How long will it take for the health care leadership in Ontario or Canada to figure this one out.
By the way, I hear that an auditor's report on the federal version of Ontario's eHealth, Canada Health Infoway, will be out in early November. It should be interesting.
I'll post some links in the comment section and don't forget to visit the twitter link if this sort of thing interests you.
Welcome to our newcomers and thanks for the fascinating contributions from all of you.