I’m awash with health technology. I have…
- Numerous health apps on my iPhone;
- My fourth wearable for tracking daily fitness;
- Workout monitors when I run and cycle;
- Data on my heart rate, sleep patterns, and the miles I’ve run or cycled;
- Just won my office Wellness Challenge.
I love the data. I love feeling like I’ve got the latest technology wrapped around my wrist for anyone to see that, “Yes, I’ve got it goin’ on!”
The question many might ask me is, “so what?” Is this information changing anything about your life? Do you have a plan, a target, an objective with all this data and technology? It’s time for us to use this information to achieve meaningful improvements in our health. It’s time to set meaningful goals.
Write down your health goals
Numerous studies have shown only 3 percent of the population set goals and only about 1 percent actually write them down. When people write down their goals and review them regularly, they achieve them 80 percent of the time. When it comes to our health, I believe these numbers are even lower, but capturing goals is central to healthy living and to the delivery of patient-centered care.
In medicine, the largest barrier to goal-oriented care is what Dr. David Reuben calls the disease-outcome-based paradigm. Doctors usually focus on managing a specific disease consistent with a defined protocol. Providing good care focused on doing what’s right for the patient and structuring care around patient goals could fundamentally shift the cost and outcomes of care.
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.
There is a meaningful change underway in healthcare with physicians encouraged to capture goals of care for their patients. This leads to creating patient care plans that are actually structured around what a patient wants to see happen under the care of their provider. Thinking about your health in terms of care goals is a meaningful change for providers, and even more important for you and I as patients.
For years people have talked about the importance of setting SMART goals (Specific, Measureable, Action oriented, Realistic, Timeline) as a critical framework for achieving a desired outcome. I would encourage everyone to write down health goals using this framework.
You’re the Solution
The first time I met my future father-in-law I walked into his home office and noticed a small picture frame with an important quote that has stuck with me. It said:
“You’re the only problem you’ll ever have, and baby, you’re the only solution.”
In the face of significant change underway in healthcare today, the power you realize by setting, communicating, and tracking health goals is the same power that puts us in control of healthcare’s future. At the end of the day you are the solution for better health and happiness.
Go ahead. Set a goal.
