One of the shifts that occurred in telecommunications once most people began to carry mobile phones was that we no longer only called places, we called people. Location no longer mattered us much, we can now make calls -- for better or worse -- from virtually anywhere.
A popular phrase in healthcare -- "point of care" -- has historically been a phrase that is very much tied to a particular geography. The doctor's office. The emergency room. The clinic. Because of digital health technologies, however, the "point of care" increasingly means wherever the patient is.
That is the longterm opportunity that a number of mobile and digital health services promise -- that for many health-related services, location will no longer matter. Already, however, the point of care -- where patients and care providers meet face-to-face -- is undergoing some changes because of new digital health offerings. Patients and physicians alike have new and improved tools that augment their relationship. The in-person point of care is changing, too, as the remote point of care is under development.
Later this month and early in December I'll be discussing mobile health at the point of care with two different groups of healthcare industry thoughtleaders.
On November 29th at 2PM ET I'll be joining AirStrip Technologies CEO Alan Portela and HCA's Clinical Transformation Officer Dr. Divya Shroff to discuss this very topic in a complimentary MobiHealthNews webinar, Mobile Health At The Point of Care. HCA, of course, is one of the largest private operators of healthcare facilities in the world. I am excited to hear from both Portela and Shroff, who will share HCA's perspective on what is practical today as well as possible in the future when it comes to digital health technologies that support physician workflow and enhance the patient experience. Don't miss this webinar -- be sure to register today.
Next month, coincidentally, I'll be moderating a panel on a similar topic at HIMSS' mHealth Summit in Washington D.C. The mHealth Summit organizers assembled an interesting mix of panelists for the discussion, which is called Point of Care Delivery Transformed. The group includes Pierce Graham Jones, Innovator-in-Residence HHS, West Health; Hon Pak, CEO & Director, Diversinet; Chanin Wendling, Manager, Geisinger Health Systems; and Michael Yuan, CEO, Ringful Health. The session will kick off at 2:45PM ET on Monday, December 3rd.
