This year's International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) offered a glimpse into our future.
As Verizon's chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam noted during his keynote this year, with all of this technology, "the challenge for our industry is, what do we do with it?"
Verizon is answering the challenge in many ways and is highly focused on finding innovative solutions that benefit the health care ecosystem by helping to improve access to and lower the cost of medical care.
"When it comes to tackling our society's big challenges, health care has to be at the top of the list," said McAdam. "In this country alone, we spend $3 trillion a year on health care, and it's rising at more than 5 percent a year. In 2013, health care will consume 19 percent of the federal budget, more than any other single item. Half of our health care bill goes to just 5 percent of the population, much of that for the treatment of chronic diseases.
And yet," he adds, "for all of this, the state of Americans' health has declined by almost 70 percent, compared to the 1990's."
What can Verizon do? "Our industry has a tremendous opportunity to use a connected ecosystem to help address this problem in a powerful new way," said McAdam during his hour-long keynote.
Verizon is focused on finding ways to deliver what is known as connected healthcare, where patients, providers and payers can share information securely and privately. Today, as simple as it sounds, that is not possible and that is huge issue for the industry as a whole.
With its cloud, network, mobility and security assets and expertise, Verizon is truly paving the way for a new age of patient-centric health care.
To drive this model of care, Verizon is actively working in the area of wellness. Verizon believes technology can help keep individuals healthy and for those with chronic conditions keep their conditions in check.
"We're engaged with the FDA to get clearance on our mHealth platform, which will give clinicians and patients a better tool for managing chronic diseases," McAdam said. "Between that and our HIPAA-enabled cloud platform, we will have a secure, private way for patients, doctors, and insurance companies to exchange information and share medical records in a mobile environment."
Another area of focus for Verizon is using big-data analytics to synthesize large amounts of data. In particular, Verizon is helping the government and other payers proactively root out fraud in the health care system BEFORE claims are paid. Most fraud systems are focused on pay and chase schemes, where fraud is identified after a claim is paid.
In a report to Congress three weeks ago, the department of Health and Human Services cited the fact that Verizon's Fraud Management system -that uses predictive modeling to catch fraud upfront -- was up and running within 60 days. In the first year, it processed more than a billion claims and saved the government an estimated $3 for every $1 invested.
Technology can also be used to address scarce medical expertise across the country. Verizon is partnering with a company called HealthSpot. That is creating "virtual examining rooms." These are basically a private kiosk that can be installed at a big box store, a pharmacy or a company. It comes equipped with a complete telehealth platform so an individual can videoconference with his or her doctor, access all of the patient's medical records, and use integrated diagnostic tools to capture the patient's vital signs and other data, all in real time.
Another area where the Company is focused is helping underserved communities. Verizon has also signed on as the technology sponsor for a project called the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, launched by the William J. Clinton Foundation. Over the next three years, Verizon will go into medically disadvantaged communities around the country and do health "makeovers" that will put better tools for managing health in the hands of physicians and patients.
Verizon is very excited about the future and in 2013 has big plans to deliver solutions that will truly transform the delivery of health care as we know it. Keep watching this space as more exciting news from Verizon is on its way.
