Banking On Health

Posted on | August 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Banking On Health

Looking Outside of Health to Fix U.S. Health Care

I’ve been saying for some time that three sectors — Financial, Technology and Entertainment — will soon reshape American Health Care. What with? With financial assets, with IT innovation, and with an existing presence in the American home, which will soon be re-engineered for health.

If you need proof, take a look at The Medical Banking Project (MBP). It’s a think tank dedicated to improving U.S. Health Care by leveraging existing banking infrastructure. Over 50 million Americans already bank online. MBP founder John Casillas says, “We’re linking the banking system into health care so the health care world doesn’t have to invest in technology and processes that banks already have spent on heavily.” PricewaterhouseCoopers partner David Harris adds, “If you trust your bank with your money, why wouldn’t you trust it with your health records?”

Professor Denis Protti in British Columbia, Canada doesn’t see this as far-fetched. He says, “The technologies needed to underpin the activities of the bank are no longer experimental or exotic but are widely used in commerce and industry. Enormous volumes of information are now moving across both public and private networks and the storage capacity of computers is growing almost exponentially. At the start of the century, and for more than a generation after, motor cars were for the expert mechanic or the enthusiast. As the market matured the power of the car in transport passed to the people and knowledge of the internal combustion engine and transmission systems were no longer a prerequisite of car ownership. In the same way for more than a generation computing was presented as the domain of the industry experts and the nerds and the anoraks. The development of the PC, powerful computer games, the Digital Revolution and the sweeping success of Internet technology has shown that the power of the computer and communication technology is for everyone: the industry is now mature. The Bank can be an agent to put this power in the hands of the people to help them take increasing responsibility for their health.”