In the so-called good old days of the 1950s through 1980s healthcare was local. If you got sick you called the family doctor who would diagnose the illness and suggest the hospital you would go to if a hospital stay was necessary. He would also suggest a specialist, if you needed one, and answered any questions you may have had about your illness. No offense to the family doctors of the time, some information they disseminated was wrong and the process of healthcare was very, very inefficient.
Then in the 1980s came the personal computer and by the end of the 1990s there was the Internet. Now all sorts of information was available instantly to a number of lucky people who had access to a computer.
Today we are in the midst of a revolution in information. And it is the personal computer and the Internet that has made just about everything known to man available to anyone who has access to a computer. Now a days it is not just a lucky few. According to How Many Are There.net, there are 1.1 billion computers in the world. By 2016 it is expected that there will be 2 billion.
Now rich and poor, young and old worldwide have access to the reservoir of infinite information. And that includes everything associated with healthcare. There are websites that help to diagnose an illness and describe treatment; there are websites that recommend family doctors and specialists as well as hospitals or other healthcare centers where you can go to get treated.
These sources of information have been around for a few years now yet the delivery of healthcare is still considered somewhat inefficient.
Now there is another revolution that is making healthcare a lot more efficient and cost effective. Technology is now available that better educates patients about their afflictions, assist doctors with their diagnosis and treatment plans, and permit easy communication between healthcare providers and their patients. Independent companies that specialize in healthcare issues and innovative technologies are now appearing on the scene to assist providers and patients on how to use the technologies much more efficiently.
One such company is Patient Conversation Media, Inc. Based in Austin, Texas, Patient Conversation Media (PCMi) was founded by company CEO Donald Hackett and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Lou Scalpati. Both men have been instrumental in the development of technologies associated with the dissemination of ehealthcare. For example, they were the first to develop a Federal Drug Administration approved pharma advertising and market research network; the first to offer an eRx app; offered the first online consumer-centric health record app; released the first Internet based Rx Refill app; patented and introduced the first “Internet based Drug Interaction” app; began a pharmaco-genomic news service; developed RxWiki, a digital prescription drug encyclopedia; and more.
Patient Conversation Media utilizes all of these innovations to pass information and educate healthcare providers, patients and consumers; improve quality of care; increase treatment compliance; standardize educational messaging; increase patient satisfaction; improve outcomes; and enable providers to meet meaningful use requirements.
Moreover, PCMi includes a network of websites to provide information to patients and assist them in finding medical specialists. This includes:
1-800-Therapist
A website that assists patients to obtain mental and behavior health information and find psychiatrists, psychologists, and behavioral health therapist.
1-800-Oncologist
A website that disseminates information on cancers and assists patients in finding an oncologist.
1-800-Itchy-Eyes
A website that features information on allergies and allergy medications and helps patients find allergy specialists, testing centers, and hospitals.
1-800-My-Kidney
A website that offers information about kidneys and information on a number of medications designed to treat certain kidney disorders and assist patients in finding kidney specialists.
PCMi also has advertising programs that reach out to people who are more likely to request brand name medications, discuss information found on line with their doctor, challenge their doctor on healthcare issues, and serve as a source of information on healthcare issues for members of their family and friends.
Patient Conversation Media shows that eHeath now has the capability to combine technologies to assure greater efficiencies in delivering healthcare, achieve better patient outcomes and assist providers to connect with their patients at any time over any type of communication device.
Comments