Personalized Health Care

[Guest guest]

Dear Herbalists,

This is an interesting but long article. Worth reading, I think.

But for those who don't want to read the whole article, the summary

is " The Internet, by providing easily accessible information, is taking

Health Care Treatment away from Established Medical Companies and

putting it in the hands of the People themselves " - ....not a bad idea

for us Herbalists..........Best Penny (P>S. I believe the Medical

Companies are putting up last ditch fights, however, to get as many

Herbalist companies not producing and off the Net as quickly as

possible....this article ,perhaps , explains WHY)

 

BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY TRENDS AND POLICY

 

Personalized Medicine Will Revolutionize Healthcare, According to

Forrester Research

 

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--Sept. 7, 2000 via NewsEdge

Corporation -

The healthcare industry will undergo a radical facelift as consumers

become empowered by Internet technology and educated about their own

healthcare decisions. According to a new Report from Forrester Research,

 

Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR), consumers will use the Internet to direct their own

 

health decisions, pay more health-related bills out of pocket, and

develop a new view of their long-term health -- creating a distinct

departure from today's domination by HMOs, hospitals, and doctors.

 

" Employers want lower premiums, insurers want lower costs, doctors want

bigger fees, and drug firms need someone to pay for costly technology

advances. Who is going to cover the additional costs? The consumer, of

course, " said Michael J. Barrett, senior analyst at Forrester. " Although

 

consumers will appreciate their newfound autonomy, they will be

resentful of the cost-shifting basis of self-pay. "

 

>From this state will emerge " personalized medicine, " which Forrester

defines as the convergence of consumer self-direction, consumer

self-payment, and genomics. Three dynamics will flow from personalize

medicine. First, diagnostic tests will identify growing numbers of

people whose genetic makeup affects drug response, disease

susceptibility, and disease progression. A proliferation of new sites

that give consumers access to tests and tools will further incite

diagnostic and pharmacogenomic markets to boom.

 

Second, personalized medicine will inspire individual self-perception to

 

deepen. Today's genetics informs a few people that they are predisposed

to rare conditions, while new genetics will provide an entire generation

 

of self-directed, self-paying baby boomers with individualized details

on their health -- expanding their genetic consciousness. Heightened

self-perception fueled by genomics will resegment the population,

raising the stakes in conflicts over privacy, discrimination, insurance,

 

affordability, and drug prices.

 

Finally, as diagnostics expand markets and self-perceptions deepen,

healthcare businesses will lose their grip on consumers, who will rely

on medications more and providers less. As a result, loyalty to specific

 

drug makers will be tenuous.

 

Personalized medicine will change the competitive positions of a

multitude of players, especially by baby boomers. Aging into the era of

personalized medicine, boomers will be most concerned with family

health, financial security, privacy, and government intrusion. Forrester

 

also believes that the advent of genomics-based medicine will combine

with other factors to catapult actual healthcare spending beyond

projections for the latter part of the decade.

 

For the Report " Personalized Medicine, " Forrester spoke with executives

from pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and genomics

organizations, as well as thought leaders from a variety of technology

vendors, academic centers, and professional services firms.

 

Forrester Research is the leading independent Internet research firm,

analyzing technology change and its impact on business, consumers, and

society. Forrester's " Whole View " of the Internet economy enables

clients to weave together Internet commerce initiatives with eBusiness

technology to satisfy customers' changing needs. Clients receive

continuous research and analysis through Forrester eResearch

Reports, an array of advisory services, bit products, and topical

events. Established in 1983, Forrester is headquartered in Cambridge,

Mass. Forrester's European Research Center is located in Amsterdam,

Netherlands, and its UK Research Centre is located in London. Additional

 

information about Forrester Research can be found at www.forrester.com.

 

Forrester and Forrester eResearch are trademarks of Forrester Research,

Inc.

 

 

CONTACT: Forrester Research, Inc. | Mariko Zapf | 617/613-6025 |

press

 

Mark Ritchie, President

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

2105 First Ave. South

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404 USA

612-870-3400 (phone) 612-870-4846 (fax)

mritchie www.iatp.org

http://www.gefoodalert.org