Many years ago (ahem, i do mean many as in 1995) while working at a hospital… there was a growing sense that hospitals/providers needed to adopt more of a “hospitality” mentality such as Marriott or Disneyworld. As dept. directors, we were encouraged to blend our annual plans for JCAHO review with an increase focus on patient satisfaction. It was an artful dance that seemed to result in all kinds of nuanced “mission statements” and “histogram charts” post in and around the hallway of the department over the coming years.
I apologize for sounding mildly jaded, as the initial premise that organizations began to embrace was dead on. And yet as often happens in any organization, the intent of the message got lost in the delivery of the message (still with me on that one?). Now let’s move forward in time to the notion of Health2.0 and all of the various organizations that are attempting engage [should i dare say "embrace"] consumers. I came across the following diagram that albeit focused on web2.0 and not specifically healthcare, it struck me as a terrific model of the levels that health.20-focused companies should evaluate as to what degree they [aforementioned companies] are supporting consumers to engage in their own healthcare decisions, communications, and relationships with providers, payors, and care intermediaries.
The diagram originated from Wiredset’s Web2.0 presentation, which was then also blogged about by Not-for-Profit entity blogger Steve Bridger posted about it, which then found its way to a post by Adopt Web 2.0 blog, which i am subscribed to [whew! what an amazing thing, this internet!].
So let’s see how web2.0 might relate to health2.0, or as i’d like to pontificate and is a stretch (i know, i know – help me out people!):
User’s “Attention & Reputation” [Web2.0] = Consumer’s “Healthcare Interaction & Self-management” [Health2.0]
- Adoption (system utilization) – The lowest level of engaged healthcare consumers. They are taking their meds/therapies as directed for acute or chronic conditions (which for many is a feat unto itself), but they are simply “the passively compliant patients”.
- Collaborative Filtering (inquisitive patients) – Mildly engaged healthcare consumers. These individuals are asking some questions of their providers, going to patient support groups, possibly learning about treatments/ therapies via the internet and disease-specific forums or social-networks.
- Content Creation (engaged healthcare consumers) – These are the people who are actively communicating and sharing tips, ideas, and treatment successes to friends. They gladly recommend and suggest Providers and therapies to others in their support group and community. They may make comments on blogs or actively participate in helping/sharing stories with other newly diagnosed patients.
- Social (healthcare consumerists) – These are people who passionately start or lead support groups, aggressively reach out to their Providers to suggest/share new therapy research and protocols, and who virally (the marketing kind) encourage others to “Take control of their health and behaviors”. These are the individuals who crave, seek, and actively share treatment and service successes and failures. More importantly, these people are the disease community “influencers” based upon their involvement, commitment, and intensity of communication with others.
Hmmm, i took a loose stab at this, but do others agree or is there some tweak to my analogies and/or correlations?