How To Disrupt Healthcare

There is much talk of disruptive innovation happening in healthcare.  As the digital and genetic revolutions converge on the healthcare system we expect massive change.  But so far, we have not seen too much evidence of actual change happening on the ground.  Why is this?  Why is healthcare proving to be so resistant to all the benefits that technology can bring?  One reason is that patient’s have traditionally been passive consumers of healthcare.  If we’re going to see real change and improvement, patients need to play their role in demanding better services.  They system isn’t going to change unless its users play their part.

In this post I’ve listed the 21 actions patients can take to help bring about the digital revolution in healthcare.  None of these are hard.  Most of them are free, or would cost very little.  They should help you take more control of your healthcare, and that can improve your outcome.

So go on.  Join the march, wave your placards, man the barricades and become a revolutionary.  Help to overcome the old, outmoded, conservative doublethink of healthcare and usher in the digital health revolution.

The List...

1. Sign up to a Personal Health Record, such as Microsoft’s HealthVault or Patient’s Know Best. It’s your information so you should take responsibility for it.

2. Buy a wearable such as a Pebble or Misfit.  Use it to monitor your physical activity and sleep and to motivate you to improve.  How can you expect to be healthier if you don’t know how active you are?

3, If there’s an app for your condition, get it.  For instance if you have diabetes try something like Glooko, or you can use a more generic site like MyFitnessPal.

4. Link your data together so that the lifestyle data from your wearable and app are linked with your PHR.  Bringing these silos together can help improve how different healthcare providers coordinate your care.

5. Ask your doctor what she thinks of the information you have collated. The chances are they wont look if you don’t ask them too.  They might learn something important.

6. Get fitter.  Pretty much no matter what clinical condition you have, you'll recover faster, have less complications and be more emotionally ready for whatever treatment is required if you're in good physical shape.  There are plenty of apps to help you, depending on what kind of exercise you like doing, consider something like Moves or our own Walking Safari if walking is your thing.  Always check with your doctor first if you're concerned though.

7. Get your genetic profile from a company like 23andMe.  Understanding your genetics can give you new insight into how to keep healthy.

8. Look up your condition on Google (or any other search engine of course), but make sure you use a reputable source of information such as WebMD or NHS Choices.  It’s important that you understand your body and what’s being done to it.  You need to take control.

9. Look up your medication (as above) and find out how effective it is and what side effects it has.  You might like to investigate Iodine and what it has to offer.

10. Use a site like PatientsLikeMe to find others – ‘like you’.  Sharing experiences can help you know what to expect, and you might be able to help someone else too.

11. When you need to see a clinician, ask if you can make the appointment online.  Use this as part of your selection criteria when deciding who to see.  Most people find online appointments much more convenient.

12. Use Social Media to provide information about you, your condition and treatment.  This way you demonstrate that it’s OK to publicly share some information (but keep anything private that you’re not comfortable sharing).

13. Get a video consultation instead of seeing your doctor face to face.  For most consultations it’s likely to be just effective and it’s much more convenient for you.

14. If you see a specialist, check that they have access to your PHR.  Hopefully this will stop them asking questions you've already provided the answers to.

15. Also, ask your specialist if they will be sharing their notes electronically with your primary care doctor.  Or will they be faxing the information over, or even worse, will they be sending it by post?

16. If you’re offered any printed information about your treatment, ask if you can access it online instead.  This is a more cost effective and environmentally sensitive way of providing information, and it can be kept up to date more easily.  Plus you’re less likely to loose it!

17. Get your doctor to send you test results electronically, if possible via an Instant Messenger or private tweet.  Again it’s important to push clinicians to engage with the technology solution that’s most convenient to you.

18. Rate your doctor and surgery.  Most good doctors appreciate good feedback.  How else will they know how to improve.  In the UK, you can use the CQC site.

19. As for point 18, check the performance and ratings of your clinicians.  You can choose who treats you.

20. Use a medication adherence app, such as Pillboxie.  Around 50% of medications are not taken as prescribed.  Don’t be in the wrong 50%.

21. Record information about your treatment and outcomes.  We’re all different.  Your experiences are unique to you but taken together, information from lots of people becomes insight.

So there it is.  My 21 ways to take control of your healthcare and usher in the digital health revolution. I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried to put any of these into practice, and what the experience has been like.  Add you comments below.

A version of this post originally appeared on the 500 More blog.