Ted Eytan, MD

e-Health. Patient empowerment. Washington, DC.

Archive for June 5th, 2008

An e-Conversation With the Team behind DCHealthCare4U.org

June 5th, 2008 | Popularity: 18%

The following is an exchange with Kathleen Newbould, from One Economy Corporation, a global non-profit organization that works to maximize the potential of technology for low income people.

I was sent an informational piece about a new initiative in health care, DCHealthCare4U.org, was intrigued, and Kathleen kindly did some research on some questions I had, to fill in the “why” as well as the “what.”

My comment is that there’s a great potential for an organization involved in enabling technology use to expand their role into health care. I think it would be great in the future if DCHealthCare4U.org pointed out which health care providers did have secure patient access and could communicate with patients online. My work to date shows that this patient population is ready, willing, and able to do this, and maybe an organization like One Economy can help make it happen.

Take a look – What do you think?

Thanks to Kathleen and her team for entertaining my return query.

Ted,
Thank you for your response and your interest. I am glad to see that you have some good questions for us! I took some time to speak with one of the men heading up the DC Health Care for You project, Brian Reichart. With his help, I have these answers to your questions:

Why did One Economy decide to get involved in health care?

One Economy’s mission is to maximize the potential of technology to help low-income people improve their lives and enter the economic mainstream. We know that low-income people have higher rates of many chronics diseases and believe that technology can play a role in helping to alleviate some of these disparities. From the start, One Economy has connected people to helpful information and resources in vital areas including health through our website, The Beehive (www.thebeehive.org). We are unique in that our content is always intentionally focused on low-income people who may not have the same literacy level as other audiences. With that in mind, our content is always at a 6th grade reading level or below and we utilize multimedia to the greatest extent possible. DC Health Care for You is way to connect DC residents to on-the-ground programs in their cities. In short, working to improve the ability of low-income people to health resources aligns with our mission.

Is DC Health Care a test site for other cities?

Health Care for You will be expanded to Atlanta and Chicago in the coming months.

How is this connected to our other IT initiatives?

DC Health Care for You links to The Beehive which has helpful, non local, information on disease management such as our diabetes coach. We have not taken formal positions on the ideas you described, but generally speaking we do encourage our audience to become more engaged in their own health care. Information is power.

Please let me know if you have any further questions! Thanks again,
Kathleen

Here’s the information about DCHealthCare4U.org:

Dear Dr. Eytan,

I am reaching out to you to inform you about One Economy’s new website called DC Health Care for You (www.DCHealthCare4U.org). We are now launching a campaign to spread the word about this new self-help website which focuses on health care in DC.

We would welcome any thoughts you may have on the website itself. In addition, we feel that since much of your readership consists of people in the DC health care field, you might be able to offer some assistance.

We are hoping to get the word out to DC residents concerned with health care in the area and believe that many of your readers fit this description. If it would not be too much trouble, we would like you to mention our website or include a link to www.DCHealthCare4U.org somewhere in your blog.

Please feel free to check us out online at www.one-economy.com and see the DC Health Care for You site at www.DCHealthCare4U.org.

We feel that this website could really help DC residents and would sincerely appreciate your cooperation. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time.

My best, Kathleen

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Posted in Updates

Tags: DC disparities patient_access

What U. of Chicago Law School Blocking Internet Access has to do with Improving Health Care

June 5th, 2008 | Popularity: 21%

2 comments

A lot.

When I first read this story: Slashdot | U. of Chicago Law School Blocks Internet Access, and followed the comments, I realized that this is a symptom of a much larger issue. Notice especially what people say they are doing with their laptops while their professors are droning on. It might seem alarming, but I think it’s just a variant on what generations of students, young and older, have been doing for generations – doodling, playing pong, thinking, dreaming, daydreaming, you name it. This is incredible creative energy, all being wasted.

This story is playing out in adult education, medical education, and the business world in a big way.

The question asked in the Slashdot article and in every other space is, “should people pay attention better, or should there be something better to pay attention to?”

I think the latter question is the better one to ask. If we have known for a very long time that continuing medical education is largely ineffective (at enormous cost to US taxpayers who are subsidizing the travel deductions), we have a great opportunity to innovate, have fun, and learn a ton at the same time.

In the past, I have arranged convergences in a LEAN way that involved creative problem solving – no powerpoint slides. There are now unconferences, World Cafe (which I have never tried but looks interesting), BarCamp (same), and whole rooms of meeting attendees with laptops connected to the Internet that could be engaged beyond checking their e-mail. There are now options like a conference blog, wiki, and social networking site. The Health2.0 Conference did the latter in March, and I thought it was very effective.

Perhaps future CME accreditation requirements could mandate an alternate approach to meeting management. When I was in medical school, we called the easy way out the “parade of slide carousels” (I’m dating myself). I’m ready to try the more difficult way out, to inspire people to bring every ounce of creativity to the table when they are at the moment they are ready to learn. This includes social networking, walking (what a treat for an eager student to get coaching from an expert in their field), simulated (or real) rapid process improvement. This should also include the voice of the customer – in medicine, the patient.

What if the physician attendee at a conference was asked to walk with a patient for an hour, to learn about how they manage their health (I have always dreamed of a medical visit that involved a walk with a patient, maybe this the next best thing).

If we do this, we’ll then take the next step, which is harness peoples’ creativity every day, in everything they do, where they work. It will be the norm. No conference needed.

Those are my ideas off the bat. I welcome yours. And then let’s try them.

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Posted in Opinion

Tags: cme Conferences walking