Joe Kvedar, VP of Connected Health, Partners HealthCare, Chapter 3

It started 20 years ago with a vision to leverage technology to improve access to care and efficiency. But instead of the iPhones and FitBits that are driving care today, it was a camera the size of a shoebox that offered game-changing potential. Today, Partners HealthCare Connected Health continues to push the envelope by transforming healthcare through tools like remote monitoring and virtual care. In this interview, Joe Kvedar, MD, talks about how the organization has evolved to meet the changing needs of patients and providers, why telemedicine is finally rising to the top, and the problem with statistics around patient engagement. He also discusses what encourages him most as a physician, and how CIOs can navigate this brave new world.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3



* Misleading mobile adoption stats

* “We don’t just get to choose those people.”

* Interventions to reach chronic care patients — “We’re not getting at the heart of our cost problem.”

* Psychology of disease management

* “Wearables are getting better at giving you insights.”

* AI-driven environment

* AMA survey on clinician usage

* Advice for CIOs



LISTEN NOW USING THE PLAYER BELOW OR CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR iTUNES PODCAST FEED

Bold Statements

If we just happily celebrate the digital health newbies and fitness buffs and whatnot, there’s nothing wrong with that, but we’re not really getting at the heart of our cost problem and the real opportunity, which is to help people manage multiple chronic illnesses with these tools.

We’re reminding people that they’re sick. This whole set of technology is reminding them they’re sick. It’s also reminding them that they have some opportunity for accountability. Some people find that scary.

Facetime and Skype changed how people thought about video because you it wasn’t about patients; it was about your loved ones. You can Facetime with your kids or your grandmother or whoever. As we as a society got used to that and that became something we just did, all of a sudden clinicians could start to see it.

It’s really thinking about how to secure your network beyond your four walls, and how to have a data integrity strategy that allows you to have conversations with patients and clinicians who want to participate in this space, whether it be by video or by secure texting or by exchange of device data or by using a mobile app.

Gamble:  It’s interesting; it’s been 10 years since the iPhone was introduced, and the amount of change we’ve seen in that time has been absolutely staggering.

Kvedar:  It’s been extraordinary.

Gamble:  For physicians dealing with patients of different ages and different preferences, I can imagine that it must be so challenging because not everybody is onboard with this or really wants to engage that way. Is that something we’re going to continue to grapple with?

Kvedar:  Absolutely. I’m glad you brought it up because it seems like every market research firm publishes numbers that are optimistic about digital health adoption. And I don’t mean to say they’re wrong, but they typically look at a segment of the population that is enthusiastic adopters of these tools. Right now, you really see the market for digital health on the patient side as being people who are engaged and interested, whether it be fitness buffs, quantified selfers, and those people who have an illness and are motivated and determined on their own to do something about it. That’s what’s driving all the interest in everything from Withings to Fitbit to all of these other too...