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
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    email marketing in healthcare
    Harnessing the Power of Email Marketing in Healthcare
    October 26, 2023
    healthcare claims
    The Role of Communication in Resolving Complex Workers’ Compensation Claims in Healthcare Settings
    September 22, 2024
    Wounds and Wisdom: What Motorcycle Accidents Teach Us About Health and Healing
    Wounds and Wisdom: What Motorcycle Accidents Teach Us About Health and Healing
    February 12, 2025
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: What Do Patients Really Want? Part I
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 > Technology > Medical Innovations > What Do Patients Really Want? Part I
BusinessMedical InnovationsPublic HealthTechnology

What Do Patients Really Want? Part I

JosephKvedar
Last updated: January 18, 2012 11:06 am
JosephKvedar
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

I recently wrote about an innovator’s dilemma of sorts – or call it a paradox – in healthcare.  The paradox is that as we look to innovate in healthcare, the very authority figures we must turn to for fact-checking our innovative ideas are conflicted and highly motivated to support the status quo.  I’m talking about physicians of course.

I recently wrote about an innovator’s dilemma of sorts – or call it a paradox – in healthcare.  The paradox is that as we look to innovate in healthcare, the very authority figures we must turn to for fact-checking our innovative ideas are conflicted and highly motivated to support the status quo.  I’m talking about physicians of course.

In a fee-for-service world, physicians are both the fountain of relevant knowledge and the source of all revenue.  So we have built our workflows, systems and processes around their comfort and success.  As physicians succeed, so does the rest of the healthcare juggernaut.  I know other industries fall victim to these kind of MC Escher-like business models, but it seems particularly acute in healthcare.

My belief is that this paradox makes our industry highly susceptible to under-imagining what real innovation could look like.  We have some pretty deep blinders on, it seems.  One of my favorite Steve Jobs legends is that when asked about the consumer research that led to the development of the iPad, he quipped, “We don’t expect consumers to be able to tell us what they don’t realize they need.” [I am paraphrasing, but this is reasonably accurate.]

More Read

No Doctors for the Elderly
Wanted: Advanced Caregiver Training and Intuitive Devices
PQRS: Alphabet Soup with Little Meaning
Getting Young Invincibles to Buy Health Insurance?
Transforming Healthcare Through IT in Washington State

As we trot out our prized innovators in healthcare, we don’t seem to hear that kind of talk.  We hear about improved ‘door to balloon time’ in the care of acute MI, about using Lean to improve hospital work flow and supply chain management, about programs to encourage more generic drug prescribing and about decision support systems that help doctors avoid wrong dosing or prescribing medications that negatively interact with one another.  Indeed these are innovations, but they are all innovations that Christensen would classically call incremental.

At the Center for Connected Health we purport to be patient-centered in our approach.  I think we do a decent job at this. But try as we might, it’s hard to get at two things. One is a true patient perspective that is imaginative, articulate and consistent.

I’m making a pitch to our Symposium organizers that this year we devote a good deal of space on the program to drawing out the patient perspective from multiple angles.  We’ll see how persuasive I am.

The second challenge is finding patient advocates who do not feel intimidated in front of an audience.  We also have trouble finding advocates that are ‘pure’, i.e., folks simply disguised as patient advocates but really championing a different cause.  I have to give thanks to the tireless work of folks like Dave DeBronkart and Sarah Krug who are tireless advocates and my friends at the Society for Participatory Medicine. But we need more like them.

In the meantime, consider with me how we as innovators should best create the programs, technologies and services that chronically ill patients don’t know they want or need yet. How do we develop devices to motivate and monitor activity for the fitness buffs who think they are content with a good pair of running shoes and a gym membership? How important is the patient perspective in the development of connected health programs and services?

In my next post, I’ll share with you my impressions of an article that appeared in JAMA last  month about patient perspective.

 

TAGGED:patient-centered care
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

Study: Comparative Data on Pharma Products Lacking from Previous Decade

May 6, 2011
Public HealthWellness

Apple investors say iPhones cause teen depression. Science doesn’t

January 27, 2018
emergency room
BusinessHospital AdministrationPublic Health

Are Emergency Rooms Admitting Too Many Patients?

May 28, 2014
radiology not paid HIS
BusinessFinanceRadiology

Are Radiologists Not Getting Paid for ED Procedures?

January 28, 2014
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?