(Editor Donna’s comments)
1. Thou shalt empower consumers.
2. Thou shalt make healthcare more timely and convenient.
3. Thou shalt solve big problems. (Criticism of apps being single-functional and not accounting for a continuum of needs)
4. Thou shalt emphasize engagement, not measurement.
5. Thou shalt not talk about improving quality. (Don Jones: ‘Focus on solving problems for people’. Here’s the reimbursement brick wall: payers are using HEDIS scores to measure quality routinely, especially in care models such as PCMH and ACO.)
6. Thou shalt not leave sales and marketing out of the story. (Ms. Suennen: “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t work in this space. You must demonstrate that your distribution and brand strategy can scale. Editor Donna, being a marketer, has opined many times on this–see the ‘Field of Dreams’ Soapbox on this point–because too many developers believe in this or the better mousetrap, take your pick–or think it’s just PR. Also see #9.)
7. Thou shalt be at the right place at the right time. (This is point of sale work–that messy retail model again, where you need marketers.)
8. Thou shalt not sell only in app stores.
9. Thou shalt be delightful and essential. (Don Jones: Your product needs to be a need-to-have and a want-to-have. Can’t agree more.)
10. Thou shalt build trust. (The culmination of #1-9 plus excellent customer service)
The ethics committee for the WSD prevented any selling effort, so broke commandment number 6. Is this one of the reasons LSE found telecare too expensive?
10 commandments for digital health and no mention of healthcare providers seems a bit odd. Whilst I am all for empowering consumers, this doesn’t have to be at the exepense of deprecating the clinicians. The goal should be to develop an effective and efficient communication channel between all members of the healthcare system.
I agree Donna that the sales and marketing aspect is important. Whilst it is nice to have good ideas, they are not sustainable without an effective business model, which basically means someone has to pay for the work involved in producing the benefits.
George, I agree with you re the providers and very insightful. Note that the focus of these speakers is from outside the healthcare system (wireless and VC, though Psilos Group invests on payer/provider side). This follows a certain assumption that digital health will replace doctors, and that doctors are not part of the solution (see the Forbes article, TA 27 June). So I will assume that the focus of the remarks were directed to developers who are entirely too focused on how whiz-bang their devices or apps are, and who forget about end users. 😮
Let’s work on some commandments here….11. Thou shalt streamline providers’ workflow and improve how they provide patient care. (Or is that two?)