HealthPub™ is three ideas and a new software product development culture. As we build, patients gain access to care and the US healthcare system becomes radically more effective. We need help, we are actively looking for new team members and investment.
Today our health records are stored on incompatible systems from large conventional
software product vendors. Systems are run by hospitals primarily for their benefit, patients
are
typically detached from data about their health.
A better approach is to create a new application (app) experience for users, one in which we center their
experience and the relationships they have with others. This patient centered record then supports us in
engaging the vast, distributed medical care ecosystem e.g. payers, pharmacies, providers, and hospital
systems.
That patient centered record lives on a new patient identity and messaging platform built today with progressive
technologies like ActivityPub. ActivityPub is an open, W3C standard for integrating applications based on publishing
messages about one’s activities.
Progressive software technologies have been so slow to deploy in the US healthcare system because
of
conventional Electronic Medical Record (EMR) data models.
We've tried to unify these data sources. The Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard
was the
first serious attempt at EMR data model interoperability but when we use FHIR to aggregate EMR data
from different vendors and hospital systems we end up with a disorganized data set that provides little
value to patients.
A better approach is to define a data model that centers the patient, this is a collaboration between
HealthPub™ engineers and clinicians. Then build application experiences with providers on top of that.
It’s a sea change and it’s very exciting.
HealthPub™ is actively soliciting investment of all types.
Venture capital provides very rapid start and low overhead but it tends to drive
healthcare tech founders nuts trying to generate revenue too soon. Maybe revenue is not the best
primary metric?
What would happen if we measured something different?
Patient access is a much better primary metric,
even for investors. Having our primary goal as scaling patient access gives us access to communities
that
might be wary of a conventional business venture, e.g. the open source dev community, non profit
clinics,
and research orgs.
To be clear HealthPub™ needs operating capital now to scale, other sources of income like donations and
grants can help but are slow
and unpredictable. Figuring how we raise that capital and recognizing the value associated with our
product development is one of the most important ways you can help now.
At HealthPub™ culture matters. Our obsessive focus on the right way to support patients with technology is simply and directly a
commitment to increase access and have patients suffer less. It’s a commitment to applied social justice.
In the same way that we carefully assess and develop team members’ technical, communication,
and collaboration skills, we are building a team of people who join with a sophisticated understanding of and commitmemnt to social justice.
Carty wrote a short, popular piece at medium.com about how to build a Loving Organization.
read it
“Dr. Paul Farmer (1959-2022) co-founded Partners In Health based on the belief that everyone
deserves quality health care. Paul cared for the sick, trained generations of clinicians, and transformed
health care policies–saving millions of lives and inspiring a movement toward global health equity."
HealthPub™ is not affiliated with Dr. Farmer or Partners In Health but his mission and commitment are ours.