“Throughout time, healthcare by healers changed. With the Age of Healthcare Information, we have access to untapped knowledge about ourselves that could not have been done before.”
“At the outset, everybody wrestled with how to manage that information. Who would be responsible, who would be the keeper?
“The answer became obvious—the medical home. It is actionable. That’s where all this should reside, with the Trusted Healer,” Anne said.
Patient information and data empowers caregivers. Clinical protocols are at their fingertips. Diagnostic information could reach the doctor instantaneously instead of days or weeks later. Medical care advanced. Rural and suburban doctors suddenly had many of the tools and data previously available only in cities. Results were encouraging as patients became healthier. Medical interventions, now based on accumulated evidence, improved.
The acceleration of the speed and volume of information changed everything. Healthcare systems changed. Outcomes changed. People’s behavior changed.
We learned that maybe we had a say in how long we live, how we could best avoid disease. This new freedom helped us pause, relax, and ask ourselves some core questions about life:
How can I be most productive for my family and community? How can I live a healthier and happier life?
For the first time health became part of our culture’s definition of prosperity, and that cultural shift gives hope that we as a country and a world can achieve even more.
The movement from healthcare to health has already changed the world.
Anne Altman is retired general manager of IBM US Federal Government and Industries.