By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Effective Healthcare Requires a Social Approach
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Effective Healthcare Requires a Social Approach
Health ReformSocial MediaTechnology

Effective Healthcare Requires a Social Approach

Paul Tunnah
Paul Tunnah
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

We all know that the healthcare ecosystem is a highly fragmented space, encompassing all manner of different stakeholders, commercial and non-commercial, including healthcare providers (doctors, nurses etc.), regulators, payers, technology players, pharmaceutical companies, device/diagnostic companies and, of course, the patient and their family, friends and carers.

We all know that the healthcare ecosystem is a highly fragmented space, encompassing all manner of different stakeholders, commercial and non-commercial, including healthcare providers (doctors, nurses etc.), regulators, payers, technology players, pharmaceutical companies, device/diagnostic companies and, of course, the patient and their family, friends and carers.

However, it strikes me that we still tend to view healthcare solutions in a rather two-dimensional way. For example, we talk about the doctor-patient relationship, the role of carers in supporting patients, how the pharmaceutical industry should engage with payers or, as is most on-trend at the moment, how the latest, greatest technology is going to revolutionise patients’ management of their own health and wellness.

It reminds me somewhat of my earlier days in sales and marketing consultancy, where pharmaceutical clients would try to look at individual components of their commercial outreach in isolation, with questions such as ‘how effective are my sales reps?’, ‘should I bother doing meetings for doctors?’ and, more recently, ‘does edetailing increase my market share?’.

More Read

Medical Billing: A Paper Blizzard Not Addressed by EHR
Why The Operating Room Integration System Market Is About To Grow
MDs Facebooking Patients
A Better Way to Approach Medicare’s Impossible Task
A New, Improved Genetic Code? You Betcha!

The problem with that is that it is completely artificial analysis to look at it in this isolated way, because everything is connected. So an edetail may work really well, but only where doctors have previously seen a rep and attended a meeting.

Don’t worry – I’m not heading off into a thesis on multichannel marketing (God knows there is enough written on that subject), but it is alarming how we are making this same mistake within the broader healthcare space and it is most acute with new technology solutions coming through.

It is true that some of this new technology is amazing, such as the wearable devices that can monitor our health on a real-time basis, delivering big data that can allow much more effective treatment or even intervention before we even get ill. But these advances on their own are not going to deliver real change for patients (or those at risk of becoming patients) unless we can do something with all that information.

And that requires real collaboration between everyone in contact with the patient.

Think of it a bit like a super-modern yacht racing in the America’s Cup. It is packed full of the latest technology to predict and take advantage of the wind in order to go as fast as possible, but without each member of the highly skilled, and specialised, crew it cannot achieve anything. The analogy to healthcare is that everyone in contact with the patient is like a member of that crew, steering them as expediently as possible towards better health.

The challenge for healthcare is therefore to drive the right sociological change alongside the technological advancement. We need doctors, carers, family/friends and so on to all work collaboratively with each other, harnessing the power of technology and big data, to deliver a 360 degree solution built around the patient.

It’s exactly the kind of multi-stakeholder interaction we see on social media every day, so why not implement the same approach in the real world to help patients?

Innovative technology can revolutionise outcomes for patients – but it’s time for true social healthcare to realise that potential – and that requires a fundamental mind-shift with new behaviours.

TAGGED:big dataCollaborationhealth reformHealthcaretechnology
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

dental care
Importance of Good Dental Care for Health and Confidence
Dental health Specialties
October 2, 2025
AI in Healthcare
AI in Healthcare: Technology is Transforming the Global Landscape
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
October 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Swimwear for Health and Safety
News
September 30, 2025
sports concussions
Concussion In Sports: How Common They Are And What You Need To Know
Infographics
September 28, 2025

You Might also Like

Technological Breakthrough in Treatment of Sleep Apnea Offered at Leading Hospitals

February 26, 2016

World’s First Approved Malaria Vaccine Shows a Ray of Hope but Also Leaves Much Scope for an Improved Solution

August 20, 2015
sovaldi treatment
BusinessFinanceMedical InnovationsPublic Health

Hooray for High-Priced Hepatitis Treatment Sovaldi

April 4, 2014
healthcare spending
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

Why Do Some States Spend More on Health Care?

April 18, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?