Healthcare Innovation Drivers: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

We live in an era of astounding healthcare innovation. Within living memory, we’ve seen the first cardiac pacemaker implanted and the first successful heart transplant. Measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox were, for all intents and purposes, eradicated in the US through public health vaccination campaigns. CT scans are commonplace. And, the human genome has been…

Patient Opinion Leaders: 4 Major Opportunities for Impact

Patient Opinion Leaders: A New Breed of Influencer “Knowledgeable patients and caregivers who are passionate about sharing what they know with others”- that’s what defines patient opinion leaders (POLs). They don’t claim to have diagnostic skills and they don’t give medical advice. However, they do want to help others who are facing similar diagnoses and…

Patient Advocacy Groups and the Healthcare Industry: Partnership or Peril?

Both patient advocacy groups (PAGs) and the healthcare industry are ultimately working toward the same goal: Better outcomes for patients. Each has its own way to get there, although sometimes their efforts do overlap. Depending on the circumstances, the overlap can present an opportunity for either partnership or peril. Let’s dig a little deeper to…

Patient-Centered Business Growth: The Value Delivered to Pharma

Beginning with the publication of Crossing the Quality Chasm in 2001 through the ACA-mandated measures of quality of care and up to today, pharma and the healthcare industry have put significant effort into implementing patient-centered business growth into their plans. For pharma, patient-centeredness promised to be a business growth platform. Nearly two decades in, what…

Social Life of Health Information

When it comes to health, people have always consulted with others in their social and professional circles. So, whether looking for more info or for data to confirm decisions made, plenty of conversations about health happen outside the examination room. As with so many things, the internet and social networks now make it possible for…

Patient Engagement and the Promise of Better Outcomes

Patient engagement. It means different things to different people. Some talk about it in terms of Health Information Technology (HIT), like Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems and expected efficiencies and cost savings. Others talk about patient engagement in terms of how patients and providers interact and how communication can be improved. Still, others talk about patient engagement…