A google search brings up a variety of definitions for Health 3.0.
- According to NACCHO, Healthcare 3.0 will identify causes of health issues and begin to drive changes in patient health conditions.
- ZDogg shared in 2019 that Health 3.0 emphasizes collaborative engagement and actions that directly affect the social determinants of health inequity.
- And the always helpful Wikipedia explains Health 3.0 is a health-related extension of the concept of Web 3.0 whereby the users’ interface with the data and information available on the web is personalized to optimize their experience.
I think these are all true. But as we see with many concepts in health care, these things often mean different things to different people. To me, Health 3.0 is the shift from patient-centric health care to patient-driven health care — meaning patients driving their health care outcomes as opposed to those outcomes being managed solely by health care systems, health care organizations (HCOs) and/or health care providers.
It’s not a new concept, but I believe we are closer to it than ever before. It is already happening on some level – with the exponential rise of the use of mobile health apps – patients are starting to take control of their health like never before.
But it will take a deeper level of interoperability to ensure that this treasure trove of data is shared with health care providers, health systems, etc. in a way that is beneficial and useful to patients and providers.
Policy also has a role to play. The CMS Interoperability and Patient Access rule — which has recently gone into effect — puts patients first by giving them access to their health information when they need it most, and in a way they can best use it.
And this concept of Health 3.0 is a big driver of what we do at CommonWell and has been since our foundation. CommonWell was created to be patient-centric from the very start. As we finish out the year and look to 2022 and beyond, our work will be highly patient-access focused.
Data is powerful. And in the right hands, patients can do amazing things with it.
As CommonWell and the larger health IT industry continues to grow and adapt, we continue to strive for this a world where patient-driven health care is the new normal.