This year has seen a good deal of discussion about the escalating costs of healthcare and shrinking access to it. Most of the discussion has centered around how to fix the problems with a series of buzzwords entering our lexicon, ACO, patient-centered health, EHR-EMR-HIT interoperability, and pay-for-performance among them.
In January, IDC Health Insights predicted 2011 to be the year of disruption. And we have indeed seen many non-traditional entrants into health, especially connected health, helping to facilitate important and needed changes.
But what is perhaps most striking is that almost all the real disruption in healthcare is coming from consumers who are moving to take more control of their own health and of their healthcare costs. Large networks of engaged users are creating a positive impact on health making change happen.
John D. Halamka, MD, MS observed in a recent article on his blog, Life as a Healthcare CIO, “We're on a journey from episodic care to coordinated care to patient directed care. We're moving from fee for service to bundled payments/capitation. Our IT systems are evolving from segmented to integrated to community based.”
2011 has indeed been an interesting year of change in healthcare and a great one for open health. Over the past year, we've had great contributions to the site from authors Leonard Kish, Heather LaGarde, Remy DeCausemaker, Briana Campbell, Beverly Pearl, Dana Blankenhorn, and many others. Thanks to all of you—writers, commenters, readers, connecters, and sharers. You've all made the health channel's first year a great success, and we appreciate your support. I hope you'll keep reading, commenting, and contributing, sharing your insights and articles.
And if you’re just being introduced to opensource.com, we also want to hear your voice. We’re always looking for contributors. We all have day jobs that keep us busy, but it is usually that work we do, that experience, that perspective that offers the greatest value. We would love to have more contributions from others who are passionate about open health. If you’d like to share your voice, read our guidelines for submitting an article.
Happy holidays, and best wishes for a great new year.
Open*Health Editor’s picks of 2011
- Todd Park: New incentives + Information liberation = Rocket fuel for innovation by Remy DeCausemaker
- Get free, personalized health advice and answers with HealthTap by Ruth Suehle
- Liquid data and the health information economy: Is 2011 finally the year? by Leonard Kish
- Open source cancer research by Lori Mehen
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