There are different ways of interpreting what some of the big trends in healthcare news were throughout the year on our site. We’ve looked at how stories varied in terms of the number of times people clicked on them, but an even better way to understand what resonated with readers is to look at which stories were shared the most on social media – which stories did our readers think others would get value from.
Here are the top 10 most shared stories from 2014 with some insights below each from someone on the MedCity team.
Texas lawyer building hatchback cars made for people in wheelchairs
This story really illustrates how patients are taking on a co-pilot role in healthcare. Instead of waiting for a doctor or insurer to solve a problem, people are finding solutions themselves. Stacy Zoern has been in a wheelchair all her life and was tired of having her life and job opportunities limited by few transportation options. She quit her job as an IP lawyer and had to search as far away as Budapest, Hungary, to find a new way of getting around. Her new company illustrates another strong trend in from 2014: there is no one size fits all for our many healthcare challenges. Zoern’s car only goes 35 miles an hour and is meant only for trips around the neighborhood. Just as an app is not the silver-bullet solution for reducing obesity rates, this car is not the only change we need to make to help people with limited mobility get around town.
– Veronica Combs
Blame the healthcare system for bad health? Here’s 14 things it should change
This post covers a lot of ground – I agree we need to address everything on this list but this represents decades of work. Here is my assessment of what kind of progress the healthcare system made in these areas in 2014:
No progress: Caregiver, Mental health, Nutrition, Psychosocial, Spiritual, Transportation
Most of these issues are just now arriving on the national radar. They are all crucial to overall well-being – and overall healthcare costs – but in most cities, there is no infrastructure to address these holes in the system.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Just getting started
The ACA is making big changes around access and financial issues. There are more and more people and organizations working on decision-making also, but those changes are very complex.
Access, Care Decision Making, Condition Monitoring, Financial, Medication, Self-Care
Real progress – Care coordination
There are so many startups working on this problem. Hospital systems are starting to care also because of the link to readmissions. We will see nationwide changes very soon because so many groups are focused on solving this huge problem.
– Veronica Combs
GE Healthcare app uses art and music therapy to stimulate minds of Alzheimer’s disease patients
With one in nine people over 65 suffering from Alzheimer’s disease many people have come into contact with people with Alzheimer’s disease. The discovery that art and music can trigger longterm memories that can “awaken these patients” and their sense of self has provided a way for family members and friends to connect with patients even when memory loss makes it tough to communicate in other ways. GE Healthcare’s MIND app program uses art and music to stimulate the brain, trigger emotional responses and promote social interaction.
– Stephanie Baum
6 Startatup failures every healthcare entrepreneur should read
Most people enjoy hearing the story behind why something failed — it’s often just as interesting as why an idea succeeded. Another reason our summary of CB Insights report on startup failure resonated with readers was that it confirmed things they already knew or suspected also had insights from investors and the hindsight behind their decisions. It included issues like not recruiting the right investors an being slow to adapt to market realities. It also provided a leaping off point for people to add their own insights such as the long sales cycle in healthcare — a challenge that frequently gets overlooked.
– Stephanie Baum
How hospitals, Big Pharma are gamifying staff training with a mobile quiz platform
In a few cases (like this one from QStream), “gamification” is moving beyond meaningless buzzword to something that actually helps people do their jobs better. Instead of boring lectures or unhelpful Powerpoint presentations, some startups are delivering on the job training in a new way. In one example from this story, pediatric faculty developed a set of questions that were sent out a few at a time, every other day to phones and tablets of pediatric residents. There are competitive elements — points and leaderboards – but the real value of the program is the frequency, format (mobile) and relevancy.
– Veronica Combs
To spark cancer discoveries, several Big Pharma companies are sharing idle clinical trial data
There’s been much dialogue around open-sourcing data to make the drug development process more lithe; it’s still early yet to see if it’ll be adopted into practice. However, a consortium of big pharma companies and research organizations have been working together since April to free up access to shelved clinical trial data. Called “Project Data Sphere,” the various players are working together to share and analyze de-identified patient-level data. Notably, Astra Zeneca recently received an award from the CEO Roundtable on Cancer for its role in developing Project Data Sphere.
– Meghana Keshavan
Report: 19 million will use remote patient monitoring by 2018
The combined trends of encouraging people to stay in the hospital for shorter periods of time and making it easier for seniors to stay in their own homes as long as possible before having to live in an assisted living facility or nursing home are expected to rise in the near future. It’s becoming to remotely monitor people because of technology advances such as wireless heart monitors, motion sensors that can detect a bad fall and identify whether people are having mobility problems. Berg Insight report’s estimate that 19 million will be using some form of remote monitoring is an area of growing interest, particularly the subsectors like telemedicine and sleep therapy.
– Stephanie Baum
Pills are no longer enough. Patients today want info, help & rewards from pharma companies
This post on an Accenture report provided information that many companies crave — what do consumers want from pharmaceutical companies? Much of it focused on the beyond the pill trend — apps and devices pharmaceutical companies are developing to do a better job of engaging with patients. In the survey of 2,000 people, three quarters of the respondents said they wanted a pharmaceutical company to provide assistance or support along with their drugs, and most said the best time for a company to initiate outreach was when they started taking a new medication.
– Stephanie Baum
The Elusive Promise of Electronic Health Records
This story, by Rob Girling, perfectly captures the prevailing mood from providers on EHRs – great in theory, sometimes great in practice but more often than not, a challenge to fully realize the gains. Importantly, it points out what should be obvious but is all too often an afterthought: the technology needs to be outcome-focused and not technology focused. In the case of EHRs, the notion was overly simplistic: eliminating paper-based records and making them all electronic would make things “cheaper and more efficient.” Alas, that has not been the case in countless instances, despite the $35 billion worth of incentives from the HITECH Act of 2009. Girling notes that focusing only on usability, without improving patient outcomes, might make adoption faster, but it will only help physicians and patients alike arrive at the wrong destination faster.
– Dan Verel
To drive adoption of mobile health apps, design them with these 6 fundamentals in mind
Payers and providers are waking up to the fact that good design is vital to success – whether the challenge is getting people to pay their bills or take their meds. Good design of products and experiences will become a strategic advantage in 2015 – for any organizations smart enough to embrace it.
– Veronica Combs
[Photo from flickr user Niklas Wikström]
