Pioneering Ideas

Live-blogging from Health 2.0 Conference

We weren't able to go to the Health 2.0 conference, which kicked off yesterday in San Francisco.  The agenda had some sessions that looked great, including ones on patient social networks, Health 2.0 platforms for patient-provider communication, how the field is moving ahead in Europe and Asia, and how the issues of privacy, confidentiality and security will shape consumer confidence in Health 2.0.

Luckily, Lygeia Ricciardi is blogging live from the event over at Project HealthDesign's blog.  Her first post is up and she'll be publishing a few more over the next day or two.

Interesting things, here and there...

Thanks to Jerry Michalski of Sociate for telling us about a massively multiplayer online game hosted by Institute for the Future called Superstruct.  The folks who do IFTF's 10-year forecasts put together a game in which anyone and everyone can figure out what life might be like in 2019, and help invent the future of society as it relates to 5 different scenarios.  One is directly about health -- the QUARANTINE category states that outbreaks have become a common element of our existence.  It focuses on a respiratory infectious disease called ReDS and challenges players to consider all the implications and figure out how to respond.

The other game scenarios have important implications for health as well, as they immerse you in envisioning a world in which we're:

• RAVENOUS - the food chain is broken and we have to reinvent ways to feed ourselves
• in a POWER STRUGGLE - the world is caught up in "Alternative Fuel" wars over what will take the place of oil
• facing GENERATION EXILE - our neighbors have become climate and economic disaster refugees in search of new places to live, or
• an OUTLAW PLANET -- In 2019, the mobile internet and sensor networks we rely on to hold our societies together are being hacked, griefed, and gamed.

The site today reports that there are 4,905 players with a collective score of 4,911.  What this means is that the current survival horizon, based on all of these superthreats and how we deal with them, is through 2047.  The game started on Oct. 6 and runs for 6 weeks -- check it out and sign up to play.

Another item worth reading is eFuturist Douglas Goldstein's take on the future of video games and health, posted today on The Health Care Blog.  He has this to say:

"It may be surprising to some that the health care industry has been among the first to recognize the ‘game-changing’ potential of games in business and other environments.  Leaders in the health care sector are now embracing video games as an integral part of a digitally enabled health culture."

He also points to an October 2008 market report from iConecto that identifies health games as a growing field.  Right now, they estimate that the health games market stands "at approximately $7 billion during the next 12 months including the markets for brain fitness ($267M), exergaming ($6.4B+) and other Health eGames on the consumer and professional side ($250M+).  An expanded executive summary of the report can be obtained here.

Health Courts: New Articles, Upcoming Event

Common Good and their collaborators at the Harvard School of Public Health continue to build the research base and policy consensus for a new system of specialized administrative health courts. An innovative alternative to our nation's current medical liability system, health courts would apply rational, consistent standards to resolving medical liability claims and compensating injury patients. Their efforts are reflected in three recently published articles -- two in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law and one in Wyoming Law Review.

"Administrative Compensation of Medical Injuries" looks at the history of administrative compensation proposals over the last 30 years and examines the success of the administrative compensation model in fields like worker's compensation, vaccine injuries and automobile injuries. The authors conclude that establishing pilot projects, particularly through a voluntary or contractual approach, is likely the most practical way to realize the potential of this model for medical injuries.

"Administrative 'Health Courts' for Medical Injury Claims: The Federal Constitutional Issues" explores the potential of establishing a federal health court system in the United States that would transfer medical liability claims from traditional judge and jury trials in state courts to an administrative compensation system.  The authors discuss the legal challenges that might arise by moving to a federal health court system and conclude that with a properly drafted statute, the move to health courts would be constitutional, assuming there are demonstrated benefits with such an alternative system.

Recognizing work going on in individual states around patient safety and administrative compensation models, "Error Reporting and Injury Compensation: Advancing Patient Safety Through a State Patient Safety Organization" gives an overview of state-level initiatives to improve patient safety that rely on voluntary reporting of medical errors.

Common Good is also getting ready for a national forum on November 18, 2008 in Washington, D.C. The event will focus on the evolving health courts proposal and new patient safety-focused alternatives to the medical liability system. Visit Common Good's web site for more information and to RSVP for the event.