June, 2003
Volume I, Issue 8

News

Will healthcare technology become the next "managed care?"

Could new technologies offend the general public and create firestorms of criticism? Could healthcare technology become - as managed care became a decade ago - a lightning rod for criticism by consumer groups and ambitious congressman?

Sound farfetched? After all, most of us believe information technology offers tremendous possibilities to help patients and alleviate suffering. Yet some of the latest advances are drawing fire.

An article in the May 20 issue of the Boston Globe, "Bar-coding Humans: the Era of Implanting People With Identity Chips Is Upon Us," discussed the use of the VeriChip, manufactured by Applied Digital Solutions of Florida.

The tiny chip may allow medical personnel to retrieve an individual's medical records even if he is badly wounded or unconscious.

The article quoted the president of Applied Digital Solutions saying, "the day will come when most of us will have something similar to the VeriChip under our skin. People will regard that its benefits...far outweigh the loss of privacy."

The article added that critics see this kind of technology as an emerging threat, conferring new powers to businesses and government. It quoted from a recent American Civil Liberties Union report that warned new technologies have already created a "surveillance monster."

The ACLU report complained of the many "high-tech [methods] to invade people's privacy, from face recognition to implantable microchips, data mining, DNA chips, and even brain wave fingerprinting. The fact is there are no longer any technical barriers to the Big Brother regime portrayed by George Orwell."

Currently the VeriChip is just for demonstration purposes. The FDA has not approved the chips for use in healthcare and less than a dozen hospitals have a scanner to read them.

To read more about the ACLU's concerns see the ACLU page.

Trends

Did you know that June marked the 30th anniversary of the ATM machine? Or that Drugstore.com just filled its two millionth prescription? Or that Iomega has shipped its 50 millionth Zip drive?

All of these are examples of the "anniversary" or "milestone" news release. This type of news will not get you on the front of a newsmagazine, but it can get picked up in news briefs, wrap-ups and columns by industry analysts.

This is one type of news release where it pays to go beyond the basics and add a little humor or colorful background.

For example, a recent release announcing the one millionth purchase of an entertainment item on overstock.com noted that the site's best selling DVD was "Titanic" and the best selling video game "PS2 NFL Gameday 2003."

Healthcare companies can find milestones in the number of units installed, the number of patients impacted, dollars saved or the first international sale.

Industry Insight

"'People want to know,' Mr. Wurman's refrain went, and one of the main themes of the four-day (Tedmed) gathering that he organized focused on exactly that: with the aid of a growing number of technological tools, people can now know far more than ever before about the state of their health."

"Roche Diagnostics this summer will begin selling (the BodyMedia) armband, a small computer with a processor and sensor, for $300 to $400 as a weight-management tool. BodyMedia says the device can measure how many calories its wearer burns."

"The logic behind the device is the same as that underpinning many of the current and future technology tools invoked at Tedmed: a much larger chunk of the $1.4 trillion that Americans spend annually on health care can be attributed to behavior than to genetics."

"Technology can help, the argument goes, by allowing more precise self-monitoring or enabling patients to transmit the information to health care professionals. People are more likely to change their behavior, this idea has it, when they know someone is watching them."

"Products like his, (the BodyMedia president) predicted, 'will be the tipping point for public health and health care that the microscope was for scientific biology and disease.'"

--from "Technology Elite Are Focusing Next on Human Body," The New York Times, June 16, 2003

Resources

Two publications, both owned by Crain Communications, offer helpful daily email summaries of healthcare industry information. Modern Physician offers "MP Stat," which serves up news for physician executives. Frequent topics include medical malpractice reform, EMR usage and managed care trends.

To view a recent issue and decide if you want a subscription, go to the MP Stat site.

Modern Healthcare, which is directed primarily at hospital executives, offers its "Daily Dose." This newsletter is focused on hospital topics, including mergers, JCAHO issues, Medicare rules and executive profiles.

To sign up, click on the "Daily Dose" ad on the Modern Healthcare home page.

You are welcome to forward this publication to other public relations professionals for noncommercial use.

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