The WELLalarm Blog

Health Care Reform May Be Good For the Economy

There's been some speculation that the Obama administration may have to put plans for health care reform on hold while it focuses on the financial crisis. However, it looks like Obama is making health care reform an immediate priority and even positioning it as part of his economic stimulus plan. Read all about it in this Washington Post article.

In a nutshell, Obama has pledged increased federal Medicaid spending (by perhaps $40 billion over two years) as part of his stimulus bill. He also plans to retrain medical workers and extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Of particular interest to me, the stimulus plan will include a large investment in health information technology--to the tune of $50 billion for doctors and hospitals to install computers. Fabulous--I'm so glad to see the new administration also values electronic records management! Way to join the 21st Century.

Website review: The Date Safe Project

If you have a teenager you may have heard about Mike Domitrz. He is the Executive Director of The Date Safe Project, a program that uses lectures, books, DVDs, podcasts, newsletters, and posters to address healthy sexuality for young people. Domitrz is committed to "Changing America's Approach to Dating, Consent, & Sexual Assault." 

Mike Domitrz started the project after the 1989 rape of his sister. He was in college at the time and spent the next two years processing the event. He realized that "current dating practices were based on standards of disrespect" and that he needed to raise awareness and create dating practices that were based on mutual respect.

The "Can I Kiss You" program (part of the Date Safe Project) teaches teens to have a conversation before they engage in sexual activity. This sounds like a hard program to sell to teenagers. After all, part of the fun of sexual activity is the element of spontaneity. On the other hand, I think if you're not ready to talk about sex you're not ready to have sex!

The website for The Date Safe Project is a great resource for anyone wanting to raise awareness of sexual assault in their own community or for individuals like parents who are looking for ways to prepare their children to date responsibly.  There are links and resources including articles, tips, organizations dedicated to addressing sexual assault, and websites authored by sexual assault survivors. You can listen in on the bi-weekly podcast, sign the Pledge for Action, and sign up for the free newsletter (which comes with an excerpt from Domitrz's book, May I Kiss You).

There are two related blogs directed towards more specific audiences: Educators and Activists Share and Parenting Your Teen. Both are loaded with practical advice and ideas.   

I was thrilled to come across the Date Safe Project and am grateful to Mike Domitrz for leading such an important and effective mission. I love that someone, particularly a man, cares enough to dedicate his life to protecting the sexual and emotional health of young people.

WELLalarm has launched!

I am tremendously excited to announce the Beta launch of WELLalarm™! The new website is up and running and our electronic doors are open for business.* This is the culmination of a year of hard work and fine tuning not just by me but also by my colleagues. I'm proud of what we have created and I know it will just keep getting better.

WELLalarm™ is a web-based service that allows clients to securely store their health records and access them 24/7 from anywhere in the world.

In an emergency, WELLalarm’s™ patent pending-technology enables life-saving medical information such as blood type, medications, allergies and emergency contact information to be accessed in seconds by concerned bystanders or emergency medical officials by phone, text, url or mobile device.

Our product line includes our medical alert jewelry line, WELLcharms™ and WELLtags™, sophisticated medical ID jewelry that allows the wearer to identify their illness or allergy and link to their WELLalarm™ account.

In the coming weeks and months we will be launching many fabulous new features that take WELLalarm  far beyond its  core  emergency capabilities. Through your WELLalarm account email, voice, and text alerts, you will be able to store and interact with your health records, appointment schedules, emergency contact information and more -- in multiple languages!

Like many great ideas, this was born out of necessity. Three years ago, shortly after being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder which required  intensive infusions treatments and chemotherapy, I was urged to start wearing a medical alert bracelet in case of emergency. However,  I was dismayed to see how unattractive the medical alert jewelry was and how inefficient they were in conveying the necessary information in an emergency I also realized how difficult it can be to manage your medical records, juggle medications, and keep track of appointments. Seriously, it is a full-time job unto itself.

What if someone started making stylish medical alert jewelry? What if someone made better use of the latest communication technology? Why shouldn't that person be me? After all, given my background in healthcare, mobile tech and venture shouldn’t it be me???

Dealing with this new chronic illness was enough of a challenge, but starting a new company gave me a reason to fight harder. As a former Aetna executive I was uniquely qualified to start a company like this. And now here we are! With the help of my able and talented team WELLalarm™ is now a reality.

By the way, I have to mention that the WELLalarm™ team is comprised almost entirely of women. Isn't that fabulous?

*Please note you need a beta code to access the account portion of the website or to checkout in the e-store.  You can sign up to be part of the beta at WELLalarm.com. We will be sending out invites to participate in the beta on a first come, first serve basis from this list in the coming weeks! We are really excited to get your thoughts and feedback so please do not hesitate to sign-up!

Cellphones and cancer

Recently Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, warned his employees to limit their cell phone use because of risk of cancer. Rumors that cell phones can cause brain cancer have been swirling around ever since they were first introduced, but coming from a cancer researcher this warning made me sit up and take notice. Dr. Herberman isn't saying he has conclusive evidence linking electromagnetic fields associated with cell phones with brain cancer. However, he is saying that we do not know enough and that until we do, we should be cautious.

It seems like this sort of quandary comes up with increasing frequency: there is a new technology or medication that we don't know very much about. Do we try it, or do we wait until the evidence proves beyond doubt that it is safe?

Tara Parker-Pope took a look at what brain surgeons and various organizations have said about using cell phones. I found these ideas particularly interesting:

Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, waves of energy that are too weak to break chemical bonds or to set off the DNA damage known to cause cancer. There is no known biological mechanism to explain how non-ionizing radiation might lead to cancer. But researchers who have raised concerns say that just because science can't explain the mechanism doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

The National Cancer Institute explains more about the radiation from cell phones and the risks they post on their website.

Researchers are also worried about the effect on children's growing brains. In fact, Dr. Herberman's warning seems to have added fuel to the debate over whether children should use cell phones.

What do you think? Are you worried about radiation from cell phones? Do you use a headpiece when you use your cell phone?

Website review: Livestrong

Lance Armstrong has been busy since retiring from competitive biking. The seven-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation to support cancer patients and has joined other athletes to found Athletes for Hope, a charitable organization that promotes charity works among professional athletes. He has also created an online health and fitness resource called Livestrong.com.

Livestrong.com offers articles, online tools, and community for people seeking a healthy lifestyle. The website is divided by topics: Get Healthy, Be Active, Eat Well, Find Balance, and Stay Young. Within each topic you will find related articles, advice from featured experts, and tools like an ovulation counter and a symptom checker. Each topic is divided into subtopics. (I'm wondering, though, what an article on colicky babies was doing under Senior Health instead of in the Family subcategory under Find Balance...)

Beyond the topics, you can search for various support communities under Groups and find help through Forums.

The most useful tool in Livestrong.com is The Daily Plate. Using this database you can find nutritional information about different foods and also find out how many calories different activities burn. Then you can track your progress with a food/exercise journal. Daily Plate also provides healthy alternatives; the focus is not just on the temporary goal of weight loss but about adapting a healthy lifestyle.

A search for guacamole brought up a long list of recipes. I selected one and got the recipe along with a nutritional information box, similar to what you would see on a food package.

Apparently "Taco Bell Nachos" is a popular item. When I looked it up I found nutritional information along with a list of healthier choices from Taco Bell.  This strikes me as a half measure towards a healthier lifestyle. While I understand the need to meet people where they are, I also think this is an area where Livestrong could challenge its members to aim higher. Perhaps other fast-food choices could be listed as "better" and recipes using fresh ingredients for the same dish could be listed as "best" choices.

Armstrong brings a sportsman's sense of adventure to goal setting with his Dares section. I love the idea of calling a goal a dare! I think this adds an element of excitement to lifestyle changes that can get tedious and mundane. Under the Dare section you can set goals, track your progress, and connect with people with the same goals.

Livestrong.com has a lot of content that doesn't necessarily go deep but does cover a lot of ground. I like that you do not have to sign in or join in order to take advantage of the articles and most of the tools. I think this is a fabulous resource for anyone working towards a healthy lifestyle!

Friday Links: Teen Fitness

I keep thinking about two articles I recently read about teens and fitness. Did you know that 90% of 9-year-olds get a couple hours of exercise most days, but by the time kids are 15, only 3% get that kind of exercise? See this post in Junkfood Science for a different perspective on the study.

Here's some good news: membership in health clubs is increasing among kids ages 6-17. Between 2000 and 2006 membership went up by 28%.

Just in time, a Silicon Valley fitness center just for teens called Overtime Fitness opened in 2006. (Now it's open to adults as well.) Many of the fitness activities center around games.

Fitness professionals are targeting teens for a number of reasons: teens represent a new market with spending power, there is a perception that they do not exercise enough, and their exercise needs to be specially tailored for their growing bodies. The new fitness programs can be fun and social, as this Syracuse teen will tell you.

Naturally, there is a plethora of online resources for these tech natives to get started exercising.

Kids Health has a section on fitness for teens (aged 13-18).

Teen Health FX covers fitness as well as other health topics.

NRG is an innovative cause campaign for teens to lead change for more balanced nutrition and activity choices.

Spark Teens offers age-appropriate information and resources about health, nutrition, fitness and weight management as well as an online community. I'm hoping the weight management component focuses more on healthy eating habits and less on just being skinny. Do you get nervous, too, when you see the word "diet" used on a website for teens?

Of course, at some point you do have to walk away from the computer and actually start moving your body...

(Image via Teen Health FX)

Guest Post by Carl Sander of PeoplesMD

I'm so excited to feature our first guest post! Today's post is by Carl Sander, founder of PeoplesMD. After reviewing PeoplesMD last Thursday I wanted to read Carl's thoughts on Micro-Communities. Enjoy! SC

The Birth of Micro-Communities If you’ve ever searched for health and wellness information online, you know that finding the right resources for your unique issue can be a long and frustrating process. Sites like WebMD do a great job of meeting textbook health needs, but they simply aren’t equipped to handle the specific nuances of many health inquiries or the unique personalities and interests of health searchers.

Recently, consumers have begun to take control of their search for health and wellness information by forming thousands of ad-hoc Micro-Communities: communities based on unique, yet shared, aspects of health. Micro-Communities come in many forms (blogs, forums, social networks, support groups). By focusing on specific, personalized alliances among users, Micro-Communities change the very nature, availability, and distribution of health information as we know it.

You Are Unique, But on the Web, You Are Not Alone. If there’s one thing the web has taught us, it’s that while you may be unique, you are definitely not alone -- especially when it comes to health. If you search hard enough online, you can find health and wellness Micro-Communities for everything under the sun: Men and Post-Partum Depression, Lesbians with Breast Cancer, Soccer Moms and MRSA. There’s little question that we derive tremendous value from connecting to other people who are exactly like us, and the web celebrates precisely these types of connections.

Micro-Communities are engaging because they honor the fact that there’s a lot more to health and wellness than science and technology. They’re relevant because, in the real world, issues like co-conditions, health insurance, employment, income, age, gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity, to name but a few variables, play important roles in our health choices. Micro-Communities recognize the value and impact these factors have on our health. As Micro-Communities grow from tens to hundreds and now thousands of individuals, they’re fast becoming highly engaging and relevant places to find answers and support for any health or wellness challenge.

The Real Potential of Micro-Communities Have you ever wondered why content on most health websites looks so similar? The reason is it often comes from the same sources. For years, a small number of medical content providers (e.g., ADAM, Thomson Multum, FirstData) have licensed the same content to many sites. Few people challenged the authority of these content providers and it was cheaper for websites to license data than to build their own unique information resource. Enter Wikipedia. In less than 7 years, Wikipedia has exceeded over 2 million entries and has proven that user-generated content can be high quality and trustworthy.

In contrast to the often-static information from medical content providers, Micro-Communities have immense potential to create Wikipedia-like health and wellness knowledge that’s not only relevant and credible, but also highly personalized. For this to happen, all health stakeholders (not just consumers) will have to embrace the future of online Patient Education: a highly informative, constantly evolving online experience that engages patients and caregivers by recommending resources that are both specific and dynamic.

Patients and caregivers aren’t waiting for the medical community to get comfortable with the idea of online Patient Education. Instead, they’re using Web 2.0 tools to forge Micro-Communities, and they’re starting to take Patient Education into their own hands by finding, sharing and rating the best health and wellness information on the web.

Facing Challenges. The main challenge faced and posed by Micro-Communities is precisely what makes them compelling in the first place: they’re micro, a subset of a larger group of individuals (Pregnant Women over 40 → All Pregnant Women). But to become truly credible and dynamic information sources -- immune to dominance by only a handful of vocal members -— Micro-Communities have to reach a size and scale that establish their stature as trustworthy and helpful resources. To do so, they need educated consumers and engaged professionals (those with the most knowledge and sensitivity to patient and caregiver needs) to contribute openly, honestly and regularly.

If there’s one thing the web has taught us, it’s that old models of thinking, of searching, and of communicating need to evolve or they risk becoming obsolete. Unfortunately, there remains a lot of fear attached to online medical information. Many online health publishers fear losing control over health information. Many doctors and other health professionals fear liability. Insurers fear transparency. Advertisers fear negative adjacency. And a diminishing segment of consumers fear loss of privacy. These stakeholders remain attached to old models of thinking (and old sources of revenue). By staying fearful, they jeopardize their ability to engage consumers in a meaningful way, and to mobilize the web to deliver nuanced, personalized and dynamic Patient Education.

Micro-Communities will truly flourish and reach their highest potential when more health stakeholders recognize that the fear of online health information is really a fear of change. Our medical system will be stretched to the limit in the coming decades, as there is less elbow-room in the waiting room. By recommending great online information and providing ongoing support, Micro-communities can’t fix healthcare in America, but they can make a difference. What more can we ask of them?

Carl Sandler is (predictably) the CEO of a new health site called PeoplesMD, where Micro-Communities create insiders’ guides to thousands of health and wellness topics. He can be reached at carl@peoplesmd.com.

Website Review: Peoplesmd.com

There are times when I sit down in front of my laptop to research a health issue and I feel like I'm completely on my own. I enter a topic and get hundreds of links -- but which ones are the most relevant to me? And how do I know if those websites are reliable? Is anyone else out there searching for the exact same information I am?

I've recently come across a website that can help all of us feel less alone in our searches: PeoplesMD. Founders Carl Sandler and David Alport created PeoplesMD to help people with similar health interests collaborate with each other while researching specific topics on the web.

Here's how PeoplesMD works: the website is organized by "communities" built around medical conditions and lifestyle & wellness topics -- anything from autism to weight loss. Within a community, members can create a "project," a more specific topic or a question. Members can then recommend websites for that project and vote for or comment on recommendations. You can also subscribe to a project and track comments and additions to it.

For example, in the Insomnia community there are three different projects: Finding a cure for insomnia without pills, Getting back to sleep naturally, and Help! I want to sleep better. Under each of these projects is a list of three or four recommended websites.

One of the features I like about PeoplesMD is that members must explain why their recommendation is important for a particular topic. This is what makes researching a topic on PeoplesMD different from looking up a topic on an Internet search engine: PeoplesMD members provide some context and justification for a recommended website. Many of the members are patients in process of educating themselves; other members are doctors who want to share their information with as many people as possible.

I also like that you don't have to be a member to take advantage of the information gathered on PeoplesMD. You can just show up and lurk! But you do have to sign up in order to start a community or project, recommend a website, or vote for a website. That said, in signing up you can maintain a high degree of anonymity if you want to.

PeoplesMD's graphics make it easy to navigate between communities and projects. The website also provides some Digg-like tools to make participating even easier. For example, the Peoplesmd toolbar enables you to recommend a website to a project whenever you're online, even if you're not on PeoplesMD. There's a PeoplesMD blog as well.

The founders of PeoplesMD have been careful in the wording on their website. This is "a knowledge platform built by people" where members "gather, discuss and rate the best web resources for any health issue." PeoplesMD is not a replacement for professional medical advice, and in fact many of the members make reference to the importance of discussing health issues with your doctor.

As with Trusera, PeoplesMD will become a more helpful helpful website in the future as greater numbers of people participate. Right now it is still in Beta form, though plenty of seeds have been planted since its inception in January of this year.

(Speaking of Trusera, I'd like to thank Jude for clarifying a few points on my post on Trusera.)

Website Review: Trusera

I read just last week that an interesting new social network was officially launched, Trusera It's an online health network where people can share their real-life experiences. The network's tag line is "the power of been there." The idea is you can find great, practical health advice from other people.

The founder of Trusera, Keith Schorsch, is a former Amazon executive. Just as I came upon the idea of WELLalarm through my experience with illness, Schorsch thought of Trusera while dealing with Lyme disease. Actually, he became ill on a trip to the Northeast and none of the doctors he saw in Seattle could figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until he told a friend about his symptoms that he hit upon his diagnosis. "Sounds like Lyme disease," his friend said. Sure enough, his friend was right. The doctors didn't catch it because Lyme disease is rare in Seattle.

Schorsch realized how valuable it is to have a network of people sharing information about health matters. I get that, too. That is why I find the Neuropathy Association to be an important resources, and it's why I applaud their efforts to increase the sharing of information by patients and caregivers via their website.

One thing I find both particularly interesting and slightly disconcerting, though, is the the way Trusera links you to other users through keywords that you input. To further explain, based on the information you provide (and you only have to provide as much information as you're comfortable sharing), the networks software links you with other people through keywords, rather than just by your condition. Therefore, you don't get defined by your illness, but by rather your keywords. While on the surface is this seems like a fabulous idea -- I mean, we're all much more than our current physical condition, right? -- there are some potential concerns.

For example, people may jump to conclusions about other people's conditions (or their own) based on their keywords (and many users' keywords will most likely be based on symptoms). This may also lead to patients self-diagnosising conditions, a concern of many doctors already have due to the increasing use of the Internet for healthcare information!

Privacy is, of course, another concern. Though Trusera has taken precautions to help users protect thier privacy (specifically, you can control your privacy and share your profile with just a small network of Trusera members or the whole community) buy using keywords instead of conditions people may accidently share more information than they are comforatble doing without realizing it.

The network has been in Beta for a while and has built up membership, but it will become a stronger tool the more people join. Just having browsed the website, it looks very user-friendly, even for non-techie types, and the design is warm and attractive.

On the other hand, you have to request a membership in order to participate. I was a bit taken a back that this request must include a statement "about a health or wellness passion, interest, or experience." This could be a bit daunting for the privacy-conscious person who may just want to take a look around before deciding to participate.

You can read more about Trusera in Mashable, The Healthcare Blog, Venturebeat, and on Trusera's own blog.

Could technology help you manage your healthcare?

I was interested to read this Harris Interactive poll commissioned by the American Academy of Family Physicians of 1,193 U.S. women reporting to be the primary health care decision-makers in their households. The AAFP is promoting a patient-centered medical home, including electronic records management and continuity of care services.

It looks like most women could use some help navigating health care for their families. Sixty percent of the respondents say they face challenges in obtaining health care for themselves and their family members. These challenges center around communication and paperwork: women are filling out complete patient histories at each medical provider's office, carrying test reports from one medical provider's office to another, relaying recommendations and diagnoses between physicians, and sometimes even unnecessarily repeating lab tests because of mis-communications between medical providers.

You've been there, right? Me too. That's why I started WELLalarm. I want to harness the power of technology to help solve some of these problems -- for myself and for other patients.

After all, women love technology, and many of the women polled said they would like to use technology to better manage their health care. Sixty percent of the respondents say technology that lets physicians send electronic health records to other physicians is very or extremely important to them and/or their family members.

Sixty-three percent said that having a relationship with a doctor who knows their (or their family members') medical history is extremely/very important. And sixty-eight percent say obtaining a same-day appointment with their primary care physician for unexpected illnesses is extremely/very important.

What about you? We'd like to know what challenges you face in obtaining health care for yourself and your family. How do you feel about continuity of care services? Do you think the right technology could help you manage your family's health care better?

Graphic via iHealthbeat.