How personalized wellbeing may transform healthcare for good

If you want to find the leading edge in healthcare, look no further than yourself. New technology and a shift from care delivery to overall wellbeing is transforming the way people are managing their health with their care providers.

In the latest issue of MedCity News, healthcare IT leader Jeff Margolis writes about the concept of personalized wellbeing. This goes beyond just medicine and moves into guiding and encouraging people to better their health before something becomes a chronic condition.

Margolis shares a stunning stat right out of the gate: “Research shows that 70 percent of what drives overall health status and costs exists outside of the clinical system and are based on a person’s environment and lifestyle.” For this reason, more in the healthcare industry should embrace this concept of wellbeing and use tech tools to bolster it.

In his article, Margolis has several key points to share with readers:

The definition of health
Margolis states that “the majority of people at any given moment are consumers making choices that impact their health rather than patients receiving care from a provider.” This means that more people are taking a daily, active role in their own health decisions.

Changing tech

Linking consumer data with achieving health goals is going to be a challenge for those who innovate in healthcare tech. But there will be a day — and soon — when applied machine learning and artificial intelligence are going to be used to power consumer tools that will help people make better choices about their health.

Dynamics in play

When there’s more consumer wellbeing products, they will need to feature not only the stable attributes about a person’s best health but also be able to react to changes — and all of it tailored to that person’s needs. “For example,” Margolis writes, “if a person tears their ACL, healthcare organizations could act in real-time and alter their recommendations.”

Customers with the keys

Margolis shares that out-of-pocket costs have risen by almost 230 percent between 2006 and 2015. Because of that, “there is a major shift toward consumers wanting to better understand the cost of care and making more decisions based on costs,” he writes.

This move toward more personalized care can not only save individuals money but also help them feel empowered to improve their health. Its a win-win.