Are wearable sensors ready for prime time? #HIMSS13

Some of us wear Fitbits and Nike+ FuelBands. These track our physical activity and even our sleep. Other people are wearing continuous glucose monitors or blood pressure monitoring watches. This year, we're seeing many new wearable sensors coming to market. Are wearable sensors ready for prime time? Perhaps, the bigger question is: are doctors ready to do something with all this data? Also, where do we draw the line between "consumer" health and professional health management? Patients who are using these wearable sensors are collecting massive amounts of data, but who's looking at the data?

Here at HIMSS, we heard that Qualcomm Life and WebMD are Collaborating to Bring Integrated Digital Health Resources and Tools to Consumers. Qualcomm Life’s 2net Ecosystem will attract new technology partners with the release of the 2net Hub API and SDK and the launch of the 2net Ecosystem Technology Certification Program.

I think 2013 will be a year where we will see a surge in wearable sensor activity. I predict that when December 2013 rolls around, wearable sensor gadgets will be some of the top gift items on people's Christmas wish lists. My Fitbit is getting quite old. I think it's time for a new self-monitoring gadget.

HIMSS13 coverage is sponsored by HP. HP’s extensive portfolio of products, solutions, services and relationships can help your healthcare organization achieve quality business practices and provide quality patient care.

WebMD Health Exchange

WebMD recently launched a new social media platform called WebMD Health Exchange.  What is it? It allows consumers to connect with health care professionals and other WebMD users and discuss health topics. Plus, you can view Expert Blogs on this site.

There are two types of exchanges that on WebMD Health Exchange:

1. WebMD-moderated Exchanges are staff-moderated by WebMD and feature best-in-class experts selected by WebMD. Always look for "WebMD" when browsing or searching for a moderated Exchange that features experts. Select from below or see all WebMD-moderated Exchanges.

2. Member-created Exchanges are operated and self-moderated by WebMD members just like you. They can be Public or Invitation-only. Select from below for Member-created Public Exchanges or create your own.

The evolution of the web into web 2.0 hinges on social media and community involvement.

Visit: http://exchanges.webmd.com

FDA and Everyday Health Collaborate

It's great to see that the FDA is collaborating with content providers such as Everyday Health and WebMD to expand the reach of consumer health information. As more people become tech savvy, they are using their computers and smartphones to research health information. However, some of the content out there is not accurate or reliable.

According to the FDA, the partnership will initially include:

• A new online resource at www.EverydayHealth.com/FDA: The new co-branded Web site will feature a variety of health content from FDA. The latest information on food and medical product safety as well as prevention and wellness topics will be featured. In the event of breaking public health information, Everyday Health will also feature special “FDA Alert” modules in select locations throughout the site and network, and in e-mail newsletters.
• A new FDA/Everyday Health co-branded weekly newsletter: The latest FDA consumer health information will be sent to subscribers in a weekly Everyday Health newsletter (www.EverydayHealth.com/FDA) The FDA/Everyday Health newsletter will contain “FDA Alerts” as well as up-to-date information on drug safety, cosmetics and skin care products and children’s health products, to name a few.

To learn more about the Everyday Health–FDA partnership, click here.

WebMD and the FDA

FDA NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: October 29, 2009
FDA Media Inquiries: Shelly Burgess, 301-796-4651, shelly.burgess@fda.hhs.gov
WebMD Media Inquiries: Kate Hahn, 212-624-3760, khahn@webmd.net
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

FDA and WebMD Expand Consumer Health Information Partnership
Collaboration expands ability to reach key populations at critical times

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and WebMD Health Corp. today announced an expansion of their partnership to provide increased access to FDA’s consumer health information. This second phase of the partnership includes expanded content and multimedia tools at www.webmd.com/fda. WebMD is personalizing FDA health information for consumers with five new online FDA sections that will initially focus on allergies and asthma, children’s health, diabetes, heart health and vitamins and supplements.

“We see partners like WebMD as critical to helping us reach the public with important health information” said Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs.

Launched in December 2008, this joint effort has already proven effective in reaching consumers with important safety information. The FDA’s information is also located within WebMD's homepage, www.webmd.com, WebMD Health News, WebMD Health Search, RSS feeds, and targeted WebMD Newsletters and Special Reports. Since the launch, over 150,000 consumers have accessed the FDA destination on WebMD for health and wellness information on issues ranging from egg safety to contact lens safety to medicine safety. The FDA’s consumer information is also available through WebMD the Magazine, distributed ten times a year and reaching an additional 11 million consumers with each issue.

“WebMD is proud to partner with the FDA to help Americans live healthier lives,” said Wayne Gattinella, WebMD president and chief executive officer. “This collaboration provides health-minded consumers with access to the FDA as a source of timely health information focusing on daily issues such as food safety and the safe use of prescription drugs, over the counter medications, and cosmetics.”

In May, the FDA’s joint partnership center on WebMD’s site increased the reach of the agency’s warning to stop using an over-the-counter weight loss product after reports of serious health problems associated with the product. A special WebMD email alert with the warning reached almost 3 million consumers interested in weight, fitness and health issues—providing the right audience with the right information at the right time.

MayoClinic.com partners with Everyday Health

Wow, this is big. No, this is huge! MayoClinic.com (owned by Mayo Clinic) has partnered with Everyday Health (operated by Waterfront Media). Will this form the ultimate consumer healthcare portal?

You may be wondering, "why this partnership?" I think the answer is rooted in advertising revenues. Consumers are drawn to healthcare ads and many companies are willing to pay quite a bit to target consumers. Sometimes I wonder if people will eventually learn to completely ignore ads. The truth is that certain ads can be very difficult to ignore. What does this do to WebMD? Maybe they should partner with Google.

Here's a snippet from the press release:

Everyday Health, operated by Waterfront Media, will support Mayo Clinic's online advertising efforts through a multi-year relationship. Waterfront Media will represent MayoClinic.com in the following business categories: CPG (consumer packaged goods), OTC (over the counter drugs), retail consumer goods and services, cosmetics, food and beverage, auto, finance, entertainment, technology and media MayoClinic.com will continue to work directly with pharmaceutical advertisers.

Note of clarification from Ginger Plumbo, the publicist for MayoClinic.com:

MayoClinic.com is still owned and operated by Mayo Clinic. We are only working with Everyday Health for advertising representation in certain categories of advertising, but will continue to represent ourselves in the pharmaceutical category. Mayo Clinic will continue to manage MayoClinic.com's content, navigation, and overall management of the site.

NEJM Perspective: Integrated PHR

There's an interesting perspective about the concept of an "integrated PHR" in the NEJM this week. Dr. Paul Tang and Thomas Lee discuss the evolution of the personal health record (PHR) industry. Google Health, Microsoft Health Vault, and WebMD all offer PHR services. The integrated PHR is an extension of the EHR system that is used in a doctor's office. It's a great concept, but problems may occur if you visit different physicians who all use different EHR/EMR solutions. Plus, if you travel accross the country, you may run into similar issues. Personally, I'm a huge fan of integrated PHRs that potentially offer patients more services like online scheduling and secure online communication with the healthcare team.

So what does the future of PHRs look like? The stand-alone PHR has distinct advantages and disadvantages. The integrated PHR has different pros/cons. Which will dominate in the healthcare sector? Will both get integrated somehow?

Everyday Health gets more visits than WebMD

According to Medical Marketing and Media, Everyday Health surpassed WebMD in unique visitors in October. According to comScore data, Everyday Health had 25.7 million unique visitors in October, compared with 19.6 million for WebMD. AOL Health was third with 10.4 million, followed by About.com Health at 9.1 million.

Have you visited Everyday Health? How about WebMD? As consumers aim to learn more about their personal health conditions, these types of health portals will receive more and more traffic.

If you're a healthcare provider, which website do recommend to your patients? Is the information reliable? Understandable? Up-to-date?

Medscape is now FINALLY copying Sermo

Medscape, perhaps the largest online resource for healthcare professionals, is finally copying Sermo with their "Physician Connect" physician-only online community. Medscape has had forums and other features to foster an online community, but uptake and usage has been very low. WebMD has really dominated the online healthcare space, so I'm surprised it's taken Medscape so long to come up with something like this. WebMD has been gobbling up other online professional resources like Medsite, eMedicine, and theHeart.org. These are all being placed under the "Medscape" umbrella of services.

I remember when Medscape was born. Most users at the time was using Netscape, so the name medscape really made sense. Now, hardly anyone uses Netscape to browse the web. Safari, Firefox, and Opera have taken over. Can we come up with some creative names based on these browsers? Medfari? Medfox? Medopera?

By the way, just like Sermo, Physician Connect requires physician validation.