I won’t reinvente the wheel by telling the story behind Health 2.0 Accelerator. I have pasted the original article for more details. However, I want to talk about how I can be benefical to be involved in this project. For example the first project in which members will take part is about moving pharmaceutical data. The advantage of such an initiative is inspired from the opensource contribution widely common in software communities. People in healthcare  could then focus on solving more complex problems that plague the actual healthcare sector. Stay tuned, the wiki is up and running at Health2Accelerator.org

“For several months there has been discussion amongst Health 2.0 companies about the concept of a Health 2.0 Accelerator. It started with Marty Tenenbaum’s introduction of the concept in September 2007. It continued with the discussion at the San Diego meeting in March 2008. Since then conversations and meetings among a small group have continued to define a first cut at what the Health 2.0 Accelerator should be.

The basic idea is for organizations to collaborate to create “public goods” —frameworks and strategies that will help all concerned to advance the industry. The way to do this is via projects that tackle particular problems, and leave behind frameworks and utilities that all can use.

The reality is of course going to be more complex, but we’re delighted to announce that the first project concerning moving pharmaceutical data has been announced, and the first principles and statements about the future of the Accelerator are now up at its own wiki at Health2Accelerator.org.

We are now asking for everyone in the Health 2.0 Community to become members, suggest projects, and contribute to the wiki. This is very much a work in progress, but we believe that the potential is huge. Please go to the new site, and contribute by giving us your comments.”

By Mathieu Hault and Indu Subaiya

I have been thinking all day long about ways to enhance the experience for the people that will be using a teleconsultation service over the Internet. One simplistic idea will be to allow patients to consult a doctor without caring about his/her location. This is what I call the global healthcare marketplace. As for any disruptive idea, there will be many hurdles that should be surpassed:

• Developing countries physicians are not as competent: A number of doctors in developing countries have degrees outside their country and attend international conferences to keep up to date.
• Laws protecting doctors like in Quebec, Canada and North America in General: Like for any other service, the globalization and internationalization of medicine is something that cannot be fought against for a long time from now on. Medicine is becoming more and more transparent. The people that want to keep it opaque are doing it to protect their interests and those of a community of doctors. This has nothing to do with the consumer. The consumer/patient should be empowered and should be the central piece of the puzzle. We need to give the consumer its lost place. (Rate my doctor).
• Cultural Difference: Most doctors in the United States and in Canada are immigrants. There are some minor specificities to the medicine and sicknesses but a doctor has the same formation and the human body is the same wherever you go. Many studies have reaveled common traits in humans no matter their ethnicity or skin color.
• Remote consultations are not as reliable as face to face: There has been many studies in the subject. In Ontario for instance, it was shown that patients resent no major difference compared to face to face visits with their psychiatrists. Also, it has been shown that more than 80% of the visits to a general practitionner end up without having a physical contact with the patient.This idea to develop the service into a world wide advice network of physician has grown up and could present an alternative to the shortage for doctors in Canada and the States.

These are old news. But still, this matter is crutial for anyone wanting to start a telemedicine service in Quebec.  Myca, a Quebec based company that is going to offer virtual -on call- visits  over Internet, has done a great deal of PR noise which has made the governement react immediatly. Health Minister, Philippe Couillard, was not informed by such a project and personnaly asked that a report should be made available within the next few weeks. In fact, the time span has elapsed and we are still waiting…

The Quebec Party, which is often depicted as the conservative wing in the government, thinks that the project is “extremely disturbing”. For me, thinking that the project cannot replace tradional face to face visits is defendable. However, I think that if you see telemedicine and virtual visits as a complement to the current system, you can easily draw the benefits of such a system. In fact, a video visit can be beneficial for the public health sector as well as this is going to free up places for other people. Understand by other people, patients that could be diagnosed by face to face visits, Jaundice for example. In contrast, other minor medical conditions, like cough or sore throat, can be very suitable for virtual visits. 

The Democratic Action of Quebec, in the other hand, thinks that this is an interesting project. They think that such a service will relieve, to some extent, the waiting rooms in the public sector. I would like to add that their position, similar to the other Canadian provinces as well as our neighbors south, is going to play a decisive role during the next few months, in the decision of the government for the rapid adoption of Internet visits.

Running an Internet medical service right now, in the abscence of legislation, should comply to the same rules as a private clinic. In other words, you need to comply to the deontological code and doctors working with this tool need to take the same precautions as they would when doing medical office consultations. The diagnosis and prescription have to be carefully provided when all the necessary information about the patient is verified and known.

By the way, if someone got any information or statistics on the Quebecers towards Internet medicine, I will be more than happy to have a look at it. I am in the process of looking at this data, maybe compare it with other provinces. Those are the best indication for the success of such a service. Know your market, they say.Please, shoot me an email, if you got any relevant information about Internet medicine. Also, I may be rolling out a poll, when this blog starts to get some traction as well.