Here’s my version of Short Attention Span Theater (which is pretty much what Twitter is anyway), of the recently concluded Health 2.0 Fall Conference, as I reported via Twitter. Note the juxtaposition between observation, commentary and snark.
Preconference sessions on Sunday:
Irony: RegisterPatient is on same #health2con panel as DrChrono after DrChrono called its pt history collector "groundbreaking." #mhealth RT @: Still waiting for a demo to blow me away or provide impressive insight on adoption rates at Doctors 2.0. #health2con #toosoon? Monday plenary sessions:
Following thoughtful keynote from @ boss Mark Smith, live launch of HealthTap at #health2con threatens to turn mtg into pep rally. This got someone from HealthTap to misinterpret what I had said:
So much enthusiasm on health! @ After keynote from @ Mark Smith, launch of #HealthTap at #health2con turns mtg into pep rally To which I replied:
@ @ That was meant as a caution, not as approval. Too much enthusiasm and you lose sight of reality. #health2con (For the record, @CHCF is not the correct handle for the
California HealthCare Foundation. It’s
@CHCFnews.)
I also had an important question for HealthTap, one that so far has gone unanswered.
I retweeted/commented on many others’ tweets, too.
AMEN! RT @: Need #healthIT solutions to be more geared toward real source of need in our population: the elderly #health2con RT @: stickK has users commit money toward their goal, spends it on their 'anti-charity' of choice if they don't meet #health2con RT @: Love Mark Bertolini's comment that people should be able to fit healthcare into their lives & not other way around #health2con RT @: RT @: Jim Hansen of Dossia: 85 year olds don't like sexy interfaces. Keep it simple #health2con I found quite a bit of news and lack of news being announced on stage.
And don’t take kindly to vagueness about the word “solution.”
WTF is a solution? RT @: Or just solutions! RT @: Ppl dont want a PHR, they want tools 2 help solve health problems I hate hate hate the use of "solution" as a synonym for "product" or "service." #health2con #healthit Good health. MT @: WTF is a solution? RT @: Or just solutions! RT @: Ppl want tools 2 help solve health problems @ @ why not just say that? @ @: ok! people want good health without having to invest time into it, that's the bottom line. (I get the sense @grapealope is among the many Silicon Valley cheerleaders who came not to a conference but a pep rally. I bet the Kool-Aid tasted great.)
So true. RT @: How many social networks will people participate in? I find it hard to keep up with one. #health2con What about the unmentionable of the digital divide, that people who need help, can't afford the tools we are building apps for #health2con Then came the lamest presentation of them all, in a plenary session no less, a demo of an overly cutesy “life game” called Mindbloom. The presentation was accompanied by distracting sound effects of birds chirping the entire time, and the game itself featured a guide character called the “enlightening bug.” My impression?
More touchy-feely bs. Time for a group hug. #health2con Others weren’t so harsh, but at least had questions about the purpose and appeal.
Mindbloom interesting idea - just wondering how many people will take the time to manage this digital Tamagachi... #health2con @ I say nobody. Too cutesy. Some will use - will have high drop off rate... RT @: @ I say nobody. Too cutesy. @ Yeah, that sounds right. I later asked fellow realist John Moore of Chilmark Research this question:
@ Ready to join hands and sing Kumbaya yet? #health2con At least I wasn’t the only one worn out by having to separate the wheat from the chaff.
At odds with myself after a long day at #health2con. So much great stuff, but so much shiny hyped iVapor too. Let's make it REAL folks! I did tone down my rhetoric a bit on Tuesday, though.
Lots of people seem to be gulping the #health2con Kool-aid. Is your enthusiasm realistic? As an objective observer, I'm seeing hits & misses OK, maybe only a bit, especially after Microsoft’s Mike Raymer said, “It was good to have two companies create a marketplace,” in reference to Microsoft’s HealthVault and the soon-to-be-departed Google Health.
GH didn't have any users. RT @: Love how Microsoft Health Vault has a welcome page to former Google Health users. #health2con I highlighted what I saw as good points:
And I asked a question that I’d love to hear an answer to:
Deep Thought: Maybe there needs 2b differentiation between health 2.0 and fitness 2.0? #health2con #mhealth I would be less likely to tune out certain sessions if there were more related to healthcare and less to personal fitness and wellness. Of course, others have different viewpoints, which is why it might make more sense to separate the two into different conferences or at least different tracks.
