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Tag: Healthcare

  • Microsoft, GE Team To Change Healthcare Systems

    Microsoft, GE Team To Change Healthcare Systems

    Microsoft announced yesterday that it will partner with General Electric to form a new company aimed at improving the accessibility of healthcare information. The two hope to optimize the treatment that healthcare providers can offer patients while minimizing the cost often passed on to patients. In what is touted as the ideal combination of Microsoft’s innovation and expertise in developing software platforms with GE Healthcare’s experience in administrative and workflow solutions, their goal is to enable “healthcare professionals and organizations with the intelligence and capabilities to respond to the rapidly evolving and complex healthcare landscape.”

    Anything that can take the burden and frustration off of patients from the healthcare industry’s hardly navigable morass of bureaucracy and costliness is a welcome change. Building on existing offerings from both companies, Microsoft and GE believe that they can ultimately improve the quality of healthcare given to patients. Quoted from Microsoft’s press release, Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE, explained the goals of the partnership:

    The complementary nature of GE Healthcare’s and Microsoft’s individual expertise will drive new insights, solutions and efficiencies to further advance the two companies’ shared vision of a connected, patient-centric healthcare system. The global healthcare challenges of access, cost and quality of care delivery are creating a new focus on the performance and accountability of healthcare delivery systems — in every country, at every level of care. This venture will demonstrate what is possible when leading companies with complementary capabilities work together to meet a common goal.

    Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer added:

    High-quality, affordable healthcare is one of the biggest challenges facing every nation, but it’s also an area where technology can make a huge difference. Combining Microsoft’s open, interoperable health platforms and software expertise with GE’s experience and healthcare solutions will create exciting opportunities for patients and healthcare providers alike. Working together, GE and Microsoft can help make healthcare systems more intelligent and cost efficient while improving patient care.

    Some of the platforms planned by the joint venture is a software suite that will include Microsoft Amalga, Microsoft Vergence, Microsoft expreSSO, GE Healthcare eHealth, and GE Healthcare Qualibiria. The two companies hope that their endeavor will address many of the problems they have identified in the current healthcare system, such as healthcare associated infections and chronic disease management. Michael J. Simpson, current vice president and general manager of GE Healthcare IT, will serve as the company’s CEO. The two companies also project that the venture will produce job growth within its first five years of existence.

    Despite the fact that the new company has not yet been christened with a name, it is slated to launch sometime in the first half of 2012.

  • The Growing Influence of Social Media on Healthcare

    The Growing Influence of Social Media on Healthcare

    Social media has helped to fill a void across various industries. It has brought a human element to many companies and provided opportunities that probably would not have happened through conventional channels.

    Interestingly, social media is even making its way into the healthcare industry. Now, while you might not be able to “friend” your doctor on Facebook, the industry is putting forth an effort to integrate social media.

    Healthcare, like the finance industry, is difficult, since it is heavily regulated. It is taking some time for health professionals to get on board, but in the meantime, consumers have embraced it with full force. Whether it is for keeping friends and family updated on a loved one’s condition, connecting with others in similar situations, or educating people on their own health experience, consumers have successfully made healthcare relevant to social media.

    Sona Mehring, the CEO and Founder of CaringBridge, calls this activity “compassion technology.” She coined the term back in 1997, before most of the social sites that we’re familiar with were around. She told us that technology has a tendency to be cold and impersonal but that she knew it could be used in other ways. She wanted to “merge technology with its ability to connect people in a very emotional way.”

    Through the tragic loss of her friend’s baby, Brighid, Mehring put her “compassion technology” to use. Before Brighid passed away, she created a website to keep everyone up-to-date on her condition. Through the experience, she wanted to give other people the ability to do the same and created CaringBridge.

    At this point, social media and healthcare are most commonly used together to create a support system. This usage has been very successful and has given a sense of empowerment to patients. Fortunately, as evidenced by organizations like the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, healthcare professionals are showing a desire to become involved with it as well.

    As seen in this post from the organization, there are many challenges involved with integrating social media into healthcare. The interactions that doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers make will vary from patient to patient and disease to disease, but they have the potential to build stronger and more trusting relationships.

    Social media isn’t designed or intended to replace traditional practices, but instead, is meant to enhance them. It has effectively done this in many industries, and it looks like it might complement the healthcare industry going forward.

    Would you like to see your healthcare providers utilize social media and social functions?

  • Consumers Turn To Social Media For Health Support

    Consumers Turn To Social Media For Health Support

    Among Internet users looking for health information, product/health websites are as important as health care provider interaction, according to a new study from Epsilon.

    Forty percent of online consumers use social media for health information (reading or posting content).

    Individuals who use healthcare social media fall into two broad groups; the highly engaged patient who takes an active role in health management (80%) versus individuals who lack confidence to play an active role in their own health (20%). Social efforts must address these two audience types with very different needs.

    Social-Media-Health

    Consumers engage with healthcare social media for both rational and emotional reasons. Emotional healthcare social media users want support from people who are going through a similar experience. Rational social media users are searching for information about their specific conditions and symptoms.

    "Our research shows that social media is a valuable forum for patients to discuss their health issues and concerns while connecting with others facing similar circumstances," said Mark Miller, senior vice president, Epsilon Strategic & Analytic Consulting Group.
     
    "This participation provides reassurance and intimacy, and many of the individuals who are highly engaged in social media feel better equipped to manage their health."

    Many people have mixed feelings about how pharmaceutical companies should participate in websites and social media, but most are open to some level of participation as long as it is clearly disclosed.

    Endorsements by government and non-profit organizations, such as the American Diabetes Association, the FDA and third-party watchdog groups adds credibility to social content.