The launch of Telstra's eHealth initiative this week was a
curious affair. Most of the focus was on ReadyCare, Telstra's joint venture
with Swiss company Medgate set up to provide general practitioner services over
the phone. It's at least six months from becoming reality.
In contrast no mention was made of close to 20 ehealth
offerings detailed a glossy brochure handed out at the event, all of which, it
seems, are services that are already in operation. So quite likely most of what
you've read in the news about Telstra Health represents only the tip of the iceberg.
You can find most of them on this
web page.
When I asked about these Telstra told me that the providing entities
were a mixture of companies acquired by Telstra, companies in which it has
taken equity and those whose products and services it has licensed.
So there is certainly more, much more to Telstra Health than
Telstra has talked about so far and some it likely centres around how Telstra
can leverage the personal monitoring devices that will, inevitably, be a major
component of many ehealth initiatives.
According to Frost & Sullivan, "wearable technology
has gained considerable traction especially in the health and wellness
industry." That's stating the obvious, but it was made in a
press release announcing a F&S report: 'Sensor Technology Innovations
Enabling Quantified-Self', in which F&S said: "The market for
quantified-self technologies – apps that enable people to track and quantify
aspects of their daily lives – is currently in the embryonic stage. However,
explosive growth is expected in coming years."
It added: "As healthcare is one of the main industries
impacted by the quantified-self movement, acquiring accurate data and ensuring
seamless interoperability are key challenges. In addition, data sharing among
health services and pharmaceutical firms raises privacy concerns. Healthcare
companies must ensure that data collected from clients is not shared without
direct consent."
Assured privacy and security will underpin everything
Telstra does in eHealth, or else the initiative will be dead in the water. As a
company that clearly intends to be active in all areas of eHealth,
interoperability will also feature strongly in its offerings. In short Telstra
is well placed to take a lead position in the quantified self market.
Similarly, F&S observes: "To get the healthcare
industry further involved in quantified-self, enhancing the connectivity of
wearable devices with technology companies to support data exchange will also
be crucial." That's another function Telstra Health will be well-placed to
fulfil.
But just what is the quantified self? According to F&S: "Quantified-self
facilitates the tracking of diet, sleep, heart rate, activity, exercise and
moods and allows individuals to gain better insights on physiological
parameters that were never examined earlier.”
The movement, and the term, was created by two editors from Wired Magazine, Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly. You’ll find a detailed
explanation of it in this
2009 article by Wolf.
There is already
a global movement for self monitoring and quantified self (http://www.quantifiedself.org).
It has over 100 Meetup groups around the world and one each in Sydney and Melbourne
with over 400 members between them.
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