I’m so used to hearing bullish projections on digital health, it’s refreshing when someone contradicts that assessment. Maybe contradict is the wrong word. But Thomas Rodgers, who joined McKesson Ventures last month after a couple of years with Cambia Health Solutions, thinks it will take a lot longer for the technology to enjoy mainstream adoption.
“I think it will be 15-20 years until it is intertwined with medical care. It will take a shift away from fee-for-service and it will also take generational change. Millennials who grew up with technology will need to start getting sick.”
He dismissed data security, privacy and lack of interoperability as presenting big barriers to mainstream adoption of digital health and added that doctors played a crucial role. “When incentives are in place and when you see doctors asking for them, then it will happen.”
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It was part of a mobile health discussion at the IMPACT conference in Philadelphia this week. Moderated by Tom Olenzak of Independence Blue Cross, the panel conversation ranged from patient privacy, sources of data and people’s comfort level with sharing data. Other panelists included entrepreneurs Dr. Joseph Mayer of Cureatr, Dr. Todd Johnson of NobleMD and Michael Vennera, also of Independence Blue Cross.
Rodgers also noted that price transparency tools, like the ones developed at Castlight Health and which Vitals acquired this week, would be more effective in the hands of doctors, who could use it to greatest effect to inform referral decisions.
A big part of the conversation centered around data collection from the massive amount of data collected by fitness trackers to the kind of data payers use for their members. Although a lot of people seem to be unfazed by sharing personal information on Facebook without worrying how the social network shares that information with companies willing to pay for it, healthcare data is subject to many more restrictions and tends to provoke more concerns because it’s so sensitive.
In reference to the massive amounts of data the NSA has been collecting, Vennera noted that companies risked a backlash if they collect too much information,”You have to be careful with consumers that you don’t cross a line and violate their trust.” But Curatr CEO Mayer thinks it is more about awareness. “The average patient has no idea that [insurers] collect claims data.”
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One audience member raised concerns that if doctors are expected to view the massive amount of data wearables and mobile apps generate for all their patients, they could be held liable if they take no action and the patient’s health declines. It could also be viewed as a distraction from patient information that matters more. But Rodgers sees it as a separate market and not relevant to the medical community at this point. “It’s a fitness market, not a medical market.”
Panelists widely supported telemedicine as a significant area of growth as employers and insurers add it to their health plans as a way to reduce healthcare costs. Although it’s been around for years, a culture shift, primarily by insurers and a shift from phones to video and text-based interactions, has made it more compelling as a way to reduce the cost of an in person visit, especially to primary care physicians. In addition to non-emergency care, second opinions and specialties such as behavioral health and dermatology are also generating more interest among telemedicine providers.
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