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What is Medicine 2.0?

By Laura Malloy @ MaRS
April 24, 2008
 
Medicine20conference

Medicine 2.0 conference

Technology in the health care system is constantly evolving, creating more opportunities for development and, increasingly, technology is being used to involve patients in their own care. When I heard that the MaRS Centre was playing host to the Medicine 2.0 Conference in September (papers for this conference are due next week), I wanted to find out more about this model.

I caught up with the Dr. Gunther Eysenbach, Senior Scientist at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, to talk about Medicine 2.0, how and why it is important and how it is relevant to scientists, entrepreneurs and the rest of us.

Read on for the first in the series of interviews about Medicine 2.0 with Dr. Eysenbach.

What is Medicine 2.0?

Generally, there is no accepted definition, but I described Medicine 2.0 in my blog as Web-based applications, services and tools for health care consumers, caregivers, patients, health professionals and biomedical researchers that use Web 2.0 technologies (social networks, wikis and blogs) to enable and facilitate specific networking, participation, collaboration and openness within and between particular user groups.

In other words, Medicine 2.0 refers to Web 2.0 technologies that enable user participation on a massive scale. These powerful technologies, combined with general demographic, economic and societal trends, together form the perfect storm to challenge the traditional system of medicine (and also biomedical research).

In a broader sense, I refer to Medicine 2.0 as “second generation medicine” — medicine without the unnecessary legacy and hierarchical structures that are stifling innovation and progress in our field.

Medicine 2.0 stands for the notion that health care systems need to move away from hospital-based medicine and focus on promoting health, providing health care in people’s own homes and empowering consumers to take responsibility for their own health.

Medicine 2.0 implies a new and better health system that emphasizes togetherness, and openness as opposed to the traditional, hierarchical, closed structures within health care, medicine and even biomedical research.

Read More

Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH is the Senior Scientist at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Associate Professor at the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and chair of the Medicine 2.0™ congress on Sept 4-5th at the MaRS Centre in Toronto. He is also founding editor-in-chief and publisher of the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

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  • http://journalismprint.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/what-is-medicine-20/ What is Medicine 2.0 « My Journalism Work

    [...] is Medicine 2.0 Jump to Comments Part 1 of Medicine 2.0series [...]

  • http://articles.icmcc.org/wpc/?p=2081 ICMCC Newspage » Blog Archive » What is Medicine 2.0?

    [...] “Technology in the health care system is constantly evolving, creating more opportunities for development and, increasingly, technology is being used to involve patients in their own care. When I heard that the MaRS Centre was playing host to the Medicine 2.0 Conference in September (papers for this conference are due next week), I wanted to find out more about this model. I caught up with the Dr. Gunther Eysenbach, Senior Scientist at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, to talk about Medicine 2.0, how and why it is important and how it is relevant to scientists, entrepreneurs and the rest of us.” Article Laura Malloy, MaRS, 24 April 2008 [...]

  • http://blog.marsdd.com webgoddesscathy @ MaRS

    Interesting article on this topic from the California Healthcare Foundation, “The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media,” by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, THINK-Health”, although this is just one aspect of Medicine 2.0 (the practitioner-patient relationship).

    Quote:
    “The collective wisdom harnessed by social media can yield insights well beyond the knowledge of any single patient or physician, writes report author Jane Sarasohn-Kahn. The outcome of this development is “Health 2.0â€? — a new movement that challenges the notion that health care happens only between a single patient and doctor in an exam room.”

    Download the report and read the article to find out more.

  • http://scienceroll.com/2008/04/26/medicine-20-congress-in-toronto/ Medicine 2.0 Congress in Toronto « ScienceRoll

    [...] The Medicine 2.0 Congress is organized by Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Associate Professor at the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and a founding editor-in-chief and publisher of the Journal of Medical Internet Research. (More on the MaRS Blog) [...]

  • http://unbelieveable.info/?p=3504 Pack of Sensations » Blog Archive » Medicine 2.0 Congress in Toronto

    [...] The Medicine 2.0 Congress is organized by Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, a Senior Scientist at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Associate Professor at the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and a founding editor-in-chief and publisher of the Journal of Medical Internet Research. (More on the MaRS Blog) [...]

  • http://www.onhealthcare.ca/2008/04/27/toronto-to-host-first-medicine-20-congress/ Toronto to host first Medicine 2.0 Congress!

    [...] MaRS Blog What is Medicine 2.0? No Comments, Comment or Ping [...]

  • http://blog.marsdd.com/Laura?aid=57 Laura

    Next blog in series will be posted soon!!!

  • http://blog.marsdd.com webgoddesscathy @ MaRS

    Laura and Gunther, not sure if you know about this event, but “Science in the 21st Century” is coming to Waterloo in September, around the same time as the Medicine 2.0 conference. It’s being organized by the Perimeter Institute and is very much for scientists trying to grapple with “Science, Society and Information Technology.”

    Check it out: http://www.science21stcentury.org/

Laura Malloy @ MaRS

Laura Malloy @ MaRS

Laura Malloy is a freelance journalist living in Mississauga who interned at MaRS. She holds a diploma in Print Journalism from Sheridan College and is a self-confessed word nerd.

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