canonical health 20 representation

The Canonical Health 2.0 Representation

Canonical (k@-non'i-k@l) adj.

1. Of, relating to, or required by a canon of law.

2. Adhering to beliefs or practices approved by authority or

tradition

3. Conforming to orthodox or well-established rules or patterns, as

of procedure.

As I mentioned at the conclusion of a previous post, I believe

strongly in the power of imagery to symbolically represent complex

ideas. Symbolism can become a powerful means of communication, both by

its parabolic method of conveying layered meaning depending on

context, and its ability to inspire the passion or madness that fuels

entire movements. As a result, I am always drawn to reducing the

complexity in my everyday professional life to simple images or

symbols that capture the essence and literally replace the thousand

words with a single image that "says it all".

Another term for this reductionism, or attempts to capture the

inherent essence of something, is "Canonical". The word Canon most

often describes a body of works in a given field (e.g., works of

literature, or of art, or of music) deemed worthwhile for student to

study and for scholars to investigate. The word "canon" is derived

from the Greek (akin to the English `cane') referring to a reed. Reeds

were used anciently for measurement, and later became associated with

a rule or standard by which things were measured, or judged. We see

this in the establishment of religious canons, or the instances where

a representative, definitive, and accepted body of work becomes the

measure by which all other related works are judged.

In that vein, I have attempted to capture, the quintessential

characteristics of the emerging movement and body of companies that

make up the Health 2.0 movement. I have already developed the

definition, described a few of the companies, and as promised, have

now attempted to capture this definition in the following graphic:

The canonical representation of Health 2.0

Conceived by Scott Shreeve MD, illustrated by Hemeon Design, and

Copyright � 2007 by Crossover Consulting.

Distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial,

Share Alike 2.5 License.Updated on 5/30/07.

The graphic is self-explanatory, but the narrative is helpful to see

how the pieces build on each other and work together to bring the

concept of Health 2.0 into focus. Here goes:

1. Begin by defining Health 2.0

2. Realize that Health 2.0 is all about Patient Empowered (not the

misnomer "Consumer Directed") Healthcare whereby patients have the

information they need to be able to make rational healthcare

decisions (transparency of information) based on value (outcomes

over price). In the Health 2.0 paradigm, everyone in the

healthcare process is focused on increasing value for the patient.

3. Realize that Health 2.0 is absolutely reliant on interoperability

of health information. Everything from the Personal Health Record

(PHR), to the Clinic Health Record (CHR), to the Enterprise Health

Record (EHR), to the National Health Record (NHR) must be based on

standards, be seamlessly transitioned between environments per

standardized security and privacy protocols, and be accessible

anytime from anywhere.

4. Undergirding this foundation of information, the Four Cornerstones

(Connectivity, Price, Quality, and Incentives) of the Value Driven

Healthcare movement begin to create a virtuous cycle of innovation

and reform. Transparency serves as a key catalyst in this process

by creating positive sum competition that can deliver better

outcomes at a lower cost.

5. As more information becomes available as a result of increased

transparency, there will be a wave of innovation at all points

along the full cycle of care (see slide 8-12), which includes

phases where health care service providers Educate, Prevent,

Diagnose, Prepare, Intervene, Recover, Monitor, and Manage the

various disease states. Measuring someone's HgA1c or Ejection

Fraction does not tell you how effective their diabetic or

cardiovascular treatments have been. You need to factor in the

care provided over the full cycle of care to appropriately

determine value.

6. An increased amount of personal health and outcomes information

will create an ongoing role for infomediaries and related services

providers to add value at each stage of the full cycle of care.

These value added Health Advisory Services (more later) will

offered by hundreds of companies, in thousands of forms, to

millions of people who are can benefit from the remixing of

medically related information. It is easy to see how the new Web

2.0 framework, with its inherent social networking and

collaboration tools, will make this "long tail" of medicine a

"value"able venture.

These concepts are worthy of further discussion and debate,

particularly since we are blazing new territory without any

established rules, patterns, or procedures. Shooting my canonical

representation of Heath 2.0 out into the ether is the proverbial "shot

out of the canon" to stimulate the conversation.