Health 2.0: A new challenge for health assistance
Find out more at the eHealth week 2010 congress, the main European event on electronic health, Barcelona March 15 to 18. The experts of the eHealth week 2010 will invite you to imagine a world where you don’t have to cross the city to see a doctor, because the doctor will come to see you, wherever you want. Unreal? Maybe not.
Barcelona (December 10, 2009) – The experts of the eHealth week 2010 will invite you to imagine a world where you don’t have to cross the city to see a doctor, because the doctor will come to see you, wherever you want. Unreal? Maybe not. Internet, and particularly the social networks, also known as Web 2.0, are changing traditional health practices, and this is happening right now.
Health 2.0 will be the subject of debate in the eHealth week 2010 congress to be held in Barcelona on March 15 to 18, 2010, a joint event held by the World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition and the European Commission’s High Level eHealth Conference. Experts will analyse the benefits and challenges of using social networking in the healthcare environment. Can Twitter and Facebook replace personal consultation between doctor and patient? The idea has as many defenders as it does detractors. eHealth week 2010 is the ideal forum for doctors, users and leaders to talk about this hot subject.
Health 2.0 is the name popularly given to a new industry that is changing the appearance of health attention as we know it. The rapid spreading broadband has opened to doors to an infinite flow of information. Interactive websites allow users to send their questions to thousands of users. Unlike the traditional websites, the Web 2.0 applications allow people to interact, share experiences and knowledge. While through the traditional healthcare services, patients only have access to one doctor, the Internet, and especially Web 2.0 applications are an open door to a large number of medical services, and offer the chance to interact with doctors and qualified patients from Greenland to Fiji. The Internet empowers the patient by giving them access to the wisdom of many people.
Saving time and money
Some argue that Health 2.0 could save a considerable amount of costs; for instance, through Twitter doctors can give instant replies to all people taking part in a group on a specific medical subject. There are already patients’ forums, virtual spaces where it is possible to read other people’s experiences and find treatments and specialists. Health 2.0 has the potential to save money, red tape and time, you only have to see the number of patient forums there are online, and there are more and more hospitals and specialised clinics offering online consultation every day, very useful if you fall sick while travelling abroad and want to consult a doctor you know.
The drawbacks
There are obviously many benefits associated with the expansion of Health 2.0 applications. However, there are also drawbacks: data security, source credibility and subject privacy. How can we be sure that the person we are talking to is actually a qualified doctor or a hospital? Should the personal experience of a patient serve as a guide for others? What about the previous conditions that are not always considered in a virtual forum?
Some argue that despite the many obvious drawbacks, the benefits enormously outweigh the risks. Health 2.0 is clearly a controversial subject which, in one way or another, will influence the future of healthcare institutions and practices. What do you think?
Session on Health 2.0
The session on Health 2.0 called ‘How can hospitals and Healthcare organizations address Web 2.0? Is Healthcare ready for open access to information?’ will take place on March 18 at 9.30 a.m.
The session will focus on discussing whether the transformation of the health service can only occur by changing the process and whether the Web 2.0 applications might be a solution in this transformation. Those attending the conference will learn the basic principles of social networking; they will analyse the role of clinical transformation in improving health assistance; they will understand some basic concepts and technology of Web 2.0 and will witness some practical experiences of social platforms for doctors and patients in Web 2.0.
The session will be chaired by Miguel Cabrer, General Manager and Founder of Medting.com, who will share his experience in Web 2.0 as an orator, along with other experts: Denise Silber (organiser of the Health 2.0 Conference in Paris) and Jen McCabe, from NextHealth.
For further information on the eHealth week 2010 sessions and on the congress, consult: www.worldofhealthit.org and www.ehealthweek2010.org
