Project HealthDesign and Health 2.0 Accelerator Focus on “Observations of Daily Living”

Posted May 4, 2009 by Aaron Apodaca and Julie Murchinson

Round 2 of Project HealthDesign, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, builds on a key learning from Round 1: people live with and manage their health every day, not in discrete and separate episodes. This may seem like an obvious realization to some; but the “traditional” health care system most of us use is not really designed with this in mind. Our system is getting better at enabling patients to do things such as view a version of their electronic medical record or lab results online and automate appointment scheduling or payments. And yet, most of this progress is still limited to clinical and administrative data that is generated based on episodes of care and limited to the institutional medical record. This is where “observations of daily living” (ODLs) come in.

The Health 2.0 Accelerator (H2A), a nonprofit whose goal is to advance consumer-centric health care by driving integration of technology and the consumer experience, has partnered with Project HealthDesign to help those interested in submitting a Round 2 application to connect and identify Health 2.0 solutions that can be leveraged to identify, interpret, and integrate ODLs. It turns out that the Health 2.0 community is particularly well suited to support this focus as Health 2.0 companies have developed applications for the web and mobile devices that enable new models for capturing and sharing health information. Whether condition-specific communities or personal health logging/tracking tools, these new models are based on the notion that individuals and communities can generate new insights by managing health as part of everyday life and engaging with others that share a common condition or health interest. Health 2.0 companies know how to capture and make sense of “user-generated” data that can bridge the gap between provider visits, helping both patients and providers make decisions to influence behavior and health outcomes.

What can YOU do to leverage the partnership and get involved with Round 2? 

• Participate in one of two webinars H2A will offer to potential applicants on May 5^th and 12^th, including a look at the Health 2.0 landscape and examples of how Health 2.0 technologies are relevant to and working in the “traditional” health care environment.
•  Applicants of all kinds, whether institutions, clinical partners or Health 2.0 companies, can ask for help identifying technology solutions or partners. H2A also offers a listing of Health 2.0 companies for applicants that are not familiar with companies in the space. 
• Health 2.0 companies should contact the Accelerator team to ensure we are able to provide the latest and greatest information for Project HealthDesign applicants. In an environment that is constantly evolving, with new companies and products continually being introduced, your updates are essential!
• Health 2.0 companies can coordinate with H2A to offer web demos of their offerings to potential PHD applicants.  

To register for a Heath 2.0 Accelerator  webinar, ask for help identifying partners or solutions, submit an update to the Health 2.0 listing, or coordinate a web demo, visit http://www.h2anetwork.org/phd.