At last weekend’s Digital Health Summit in Las Vegas (part of CES, the huge consumer electronics show), three global trends emerged with important ramifications to how we age. Paul Ceverha, director at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Continua Health Alliance member, defined the trends as

1. The evolution of the health system (regulatory reform): Payment reform will move to more bundled payments to encourage coordinated care. This would have big impact & be welcomed by seniors who currently must navigate the complicated world of private insurance, pharma options, medicare, donut holes, etc.

2. Revolution in care: the home as hub concept or medical health home. Personal health records (PHR), a comprehensive all-in-one-place record of one’s health history, lab results, stats, etc., can help elders organize their records, especially since as a group seniors tend to be the biggest users of health care, often being seen by multiple providers. While Google & Microsoft have created software to capture PHR data, insurance companies will need to incentivize to get people to use, let alone make it easy to use & access.

3. Impact of new science: New forces such as genomic sciences are collapsing sequencing costs to make customized diagnostics possible & more affordable for the average joe. Healthcare will continue to move towards being evidence-based and consumer-directed. The four Ps will dominate: predictive, participatory, preventative & personalized.

A recurring theme at the summit: the way we think about getting care is going to change. Outlets like retail health, home monitoring, personal coach, and medical home are but a few of the new. All seem to involve or include a technology component. When it comes to health technology, how can we help seniors go from being a passive observer to an active user? Share your ideas here. ~Helen Rickman