HealthCamp

So it’s about time I blogged about HealthCamp, the un-conference event I participated in at Citizen Space in San Francisco about two weeks ago. An un-conference takes the premise that the best conversations happened between sessions of regular conferences, and recreates that format for the entire conference. When we walked into Citizen Space at the beginning of the day, there was a white-board with time slots and rooms, and we were asked to propose session topics that we were interested in or wanted to lead. In short order the morning was filled, and during the day we proceeded to fill in the afternoon sessions.

The best part of the un-conference format was that it encouraged participation by all. The HealthCamp wiki was very clear (as are all BarCamps) that there really is no such thing as an audience at a BarCamp, and I think that forthrightness pre-filters the types of people who attended. In short, my impression is that you get a higher quality of attendees at un-conferences. I’ve been to a number of conferences over the summer and fall, and HealthCamp definitely ties for number one (the other is IIW2006, another un-conference event).

OK, enough raving about the un-conference format, and on to more about HealthCamp.

Most BarCamps seem to be technical in nature. HealthCamp was appealing to me because it engaged people from outside the technical and developer communities. We had healthcare providers, medical doctors, geneticists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and designers, among others, and this richness of background, expertise, and interest areas revealed a depth to the event which really excited me. More often than not, whatever our expertise or industry, we work within silos of knowledge, and it’s relatively rare to engage so many different people, learning and sharing knowledge and expertise. I’m not the only one who was inspired by HealthCamp: Johannes Ernst started up Health20.org and I’m actively involved in organizing CookCamp (more about CookCamp in my next post).

Some of the things we discussed at HealthCamp (or at least in the sessions I attended):

• Issues of prevention came up as one of the first topics, and I later held a session in the afternoon where I presented Fresh Start as a means of stimulating discussion on this topic to a greater degree.

• Time and the difficulties involved in connecting Cause and Effect, particularly in the health context. How can we help people better understand the connections between what they put into their systems and the positive or negative effects they produce?

• The need to educate patients as well as the physicians.

• I was particularly struck by the phrase “treating the body sustainably”, which was suggested by one of the participants in the first session I attended. It’s a reframing of the adage Garbage In, Garbage Out, and it connects our increasing awareness and understanding of sustainability in general, particularly our understanding of systems. Someone pointed out that the phrase also applies to the quality of information we consume, and it raises the question of how can we select accurate and relevant information from the mass of data that’s out there.

• Someone suggested “pay by the minute” for access to a doctor, which I believe was tied into a notion of Personal Health Management: what is your level of interest and willingness to pay?

• Johannes Ernst led a session on user-centered healthcare, identifying stakeholders, and identifying from where innovation could arise.

• James Littlejohn led a session on entrepreneurship within the health space. We identified some opportunities, including a Prosper.com model for insurance that uses peer pressure to get favorable rates on insurance (everyone in a group gets a discount if they adhere to a regimen), and a means for recommending doctors.

I also got a lot of feedback on Fresh Start, and while I’ll elide the gory details, the general learning is that BarCamps are great places get feedback on your work. I think I got more valuable comments and advice on this project in 45 minutes than I have all year.

Plans are being set in motion to hold another HealthCamp sometime next year. It’s not clear exactly when or where just yet, but both Boston and NYC have been mentioned. If and when I find out more I’ll blog about it here…