Defining Health 3.0 and 4.0

Reading through reviews of the Health 2.0 Unconference NL, I realized we'd hidden some pretty important definitions in lengthy descriptive coverage.

Guilty as charged. This post will hopefully make it easier to find definitions of Health 3.0 and Health 4.0.

A group of us here in Holland are working on Health 4.0, which combines the Health 3.0 principles Dr. Jeff Gruen, Chief Medical Officer @ Revolution Health, names (see attribution here) and adds coherence as the penultimate connector.

If we look at the dot-o movement in healthcare and wellness management numerically (in semantic web terms), we can distill the evolution of the concept down to something like this:

1. Health 1.0 = content

2. Health 2.0 = content + community

3. Health 3.0 = content + community plus consumer-centric commerce

4. Fully realized Health 4.0 = content + community + working commerce models + coherence (connectors)

On Saturday we had the first Health 2.0 Unconference in Amsterdam, where both practical and philosophical concerns on how to bring about consumer-centric care (human-to-human) were big topics of conversation.

There's a further review of the Health 2.0 progression to 3.0 (and goals for eventual 4.0 evolution) in my nitty gritty review of the event.

So has Health 3.0 arrived?

I think we're on the way, with some firms starting to reach for the 4.0 pinnacle, in which consumers can access care research, tracking, delivery and integration using both online and offline models.

There are a few companies with viable business models that create a platform for sustainability.

Three top picks include Organized Wisdom, Hello Health/Myca, and American Well.

It's no coincidence one of these firms uses systemic buyers to fund/funnel services to consumers via payer platforms (insurance companies), a revenue model that stands out in the current ad-funded glut.

The other two provide open access linking consumers to healthcare providers, and ALL THREE link patients/healthcare consumers to docs in one way or another.

Again, it's the 3Cs of Health 3.0 - Content (Organized Wisdom Wisdom Cards), Community (all), and Commerce (American Well partnering with HMOs to offer doc access services direct to consumers, Hello Health providing self-pay concierge doc services).

Newcomer Limeade also makes the cut (more on Limeade later), and SugarStats.com provides content + community and the interconnectivity we'll come to expect from Health 4.0 firms (you can send stats to your doc).

More examples later, but if you want to learn more you should be in Vegas next month attending this.