The Changing Patient in the Digital Era: A Typology for Guiding Innovation in Healthcare

Abstract

Ten years ago, the word blog would have drawn puzzled stares. The iPhone was inconceivable. The inventor of Facebook was 15. To understand the impact of the explosion of and social media technologies on healthcare, it is important to understand how these technologies are changing the consumers who use them. Today’s unrelenting technological progress is providing consumers countless new ways of receiving and distributing information and content that was not available years or even months ago. Consumers’ increasing use of media to learn, interact, and connect with others on demand is changing their expectations for access to information and connection in all areas of their lives – including healthcare. As consumers change their expectations, new businesses are emerging to meet their every wish, even every potential wish. Healthcare is no exception. Patients, families and caregivers, and individuals interested in wellness find themselves in a marketplace that is changing by the month. They have access to a wealth of new information sources, new services, new ways of connecting with each other, and new apps (applications) across multiple devices — all designed to put them in charge of their own healthcare. At times medical professionals can experience their digitally-savvy patients as irritating. Most healthcare providers are familiar with patients who arrive at medical visits with a potential diagnosis derived from a website that has little to do with an accurate assessment of their condition. However, as websites offer increasingly sophisticated interactive assessments and tools, often sponsored by medical associations (The American Heart Association, The American Cancer Society) or developed by physicians, patients are entering with better questions, with a clearer perspective on their health challenges. These patients may have an enhanced understanding of the actions required from themselves as well as from their doctors. Patients’ digital life can become a useful adjunct to their in-person visits with medical staff in a healthcare facility In addition, as more and more patients are being seen for long-term, chronic conditions that are strongly influenced by their lifestyle choices outside of medical treatment, the world can serve as a useful partner in care. The choices patients and their families make when they are at home, at work, or in other locations, may affect their health as much as the treatment choices made in the medical office or hospital. For those with Internet access, the world is always there for them. Patients can take advantage of monitoring devices, sensors, useful information, or support around the clock, from any location. What we are witnessing is nothing short of revolutionary, not just in terms of technological advances, but also in terms of the shifting attitudes, expectations, behaviors, and culture. Digital Media as the Driver of Exponential Change in Healthcare The recent wave of new technology is strongly influenced by the exponential growth of microprocessor speed. Intel co-founder Gordon Moore hypothesized that processing speed of integrated circuits would double in speed every two years, while halving in cost and size. This relentless year-after-year development has led to unprecedented product turnover in very short periods of time. A product or service that is dominant today can be obsolete within a year or less. Exponential change is often hard for humans to understand. Many innovations have changed humanity profoundly throughout our history — agriculture, the printing press, the internal combustion engine — but none of these discoveries were based on microprocessors. They did not double in speed every two years. A page from Intel’s website urges readers to consider, “In 1978, a commercial flight between New York and Paris cost around $900 and took seven hours. If the principles of Moore’s Law had been applied to the airline industry the way they have to the semiconductor industry since 1978. that flight would now cost about a penny and take less than one second.” 1