The Economist shifts its focus from economic collapse to health care reform with a special report this past month on Health 2.0. Quoting health care expert Joanne Shaw, the magazine gives digital health care some deep historical context, comparing the rise of bottom-up, interactive digital care to the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation as both movements destabilize traditional hierarchies.
University of Toronto’s Neil Seeman, director of the Health Strategy Innovation Cell at Massey College, agrees. He tells The Economist that Health 2.0 “reinvents how we identify opinion leaders and exploit disruptive innovation,” and points to the growing influence of health-related blogs, wikis and other new media tools (even the CDC is is Second Life now).
The Innovation Cell’s new website, myhealthinnovation.com, is one example of grassroots health care reform in action. Contributors post ideas for improving the health care system and vote on other ideas. The Innovation Cell then synthesizes and analyzes contributions to make recommendations to key health care players.
Do you have a great idea for controlling infections, reducing wait times or improving public safety? Share it with the world here!
Kathryn provides market intelligence services to MaRS Advisory Services clients and to The Innovations Group at the University of Toronto. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information.
