White Paper (hwit pā’pər) n.
1. A government report.
2. An authoritative report on a major issue, as by a team of journalists.
Congratulations to Matthew and Indu regarding the Health 2.0 Conference officially selling out yesterday (this is the good kind of selling out, as opposed to the bad kind of selling out). I have been thrilled to be associated with the both the Health 2.0 Technology and the overall Movement and look forward to attending the conference to meet new and old colleagues who are passionate about improving our healthcare system. The conference is the collective work of many people, and it is great that Matthew and Indu were able to do the heavy lifting and channeling the positive energy into helping this event happen. Once again, congratulations!
While the definition of Health 2.0 is still in evolution, the definitive verbiage is less important than attempting the identify the various themes that we are seeing emerge in the marketplace. In addition to creating the iconic “Beautiful Mind” theme graphic for Health 2.0, I am currently working on white paper (styled after the definitive Tim O’Reilly “What is Web 2.0?” article) to capture some of the core ideas. I hope, in true Web 2.0 fashion, to use this blog to begin to publish the various chapters that will comprise the effort. After publication, I hope to be able to include the broader community by posting to the Health 2.0 Wiki site for further collaboration.
As a preview, here is my working outline:
What Is Health 2.0?
Enabling Technologies and Reform Initiatives for Next Generation Healthcare
By Scott Shreeve, MD
1. Introduction
2. Definition
3. Patient Centric
4. Pervasive Information – XHR
5. Value Driven agenda
6. Managing Medical Conditions over the Full Cycle of Care
7. Value Added Advisory Services
8. Universal HealthCare Coverage
9. Current Examples of Health 2.0
Should be an interesting experiment . . . I look forward to your participation.
Scott Shreeve, MD 
Great idea Scott. Glad to see you continuing to push the envelope by trying to define Health 2.0 as we go about understanding what it might mean. I agree with your perspective that we shouldn’t get caught up in the microscopic definition and instead look at the value of the technology to create greater change in care. It all comes down to better communication, more valuable information and most importantly better care for patients (hopefully focusing on prevention instead of intervention).
Looking forward to seeing you at Health 2.0 and would love to get together for some more detailed talking and thinking.
I would also be interested in helping out with the Health 2.0 white paper. I would like to assist as a sounding board for some of the legal implications.
Thanks Bob – would love to get your legal mind wrapped around this. Would love to get your assistance on the wiki, with additional reference, and further tangential exploration of implications.
See in in SF!