Digital Generation Faced with Analog Healthcare

The big question in the healthcare industry is how to cater to the Facebook generation, the generation with digital communication constantly at their fingertips. Digital healthcare has lagged behind and there are several barriers keeping it from becoming commonplace.

First, privacy and security are always top of mind and managing protected health information in the digital realm has risks and trade-offs. HIPAA binds health care organizations to protect all health information of patients. 

Secondly, incorporating digital care would require an overhaul of physician schedules. Thirdly, reimbursement models for healthcare services primarily follow face-to-face interaction with physicians. Digital health reimbursement models are still not up to speed. Transforming health care delivery to the digital sphere must be done in context of the physical processes and systems that exist today.

Will the push to transform health care delivery come from outside of the health care industry, where technology industry giants like Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook see the potential of consumer technology for health? 

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