I’ve been translating the work I’ve done on projects into slide decks to showcase my design approach, process, and decisions. While thinking about the context and the results of the individual projects – the user outcomes and business goals – it got me thinking about the larger context. Suddenly, I was transported back to my community health undergrad days where I first encountered the Healthy People initiative.

Healthy People identifies national (U.S.) public health priority areas and sets new objectives every 10 years to improve the health for all people and their communities over that decade.

So, basically, public health KPIs.

Currently, we’re on the fifth iteration: Healthy People 2030.

Since scanning the new, expanded, and transformed objectives with a future-of-healthtech frame of mind, I’ve had a few lingering thoughts about how tech may influence them overtime.

Expanded objectives in Health IT

Objectives in the Health IT priority area are being expanded and shifting focus to adapt to the changing digital capacity and potential. While many of the Health IT objectives are still in research or developmental stages, it’s still fascinating to note the directions these are moving.

Much of the Health IT objectives relate to electronic medical records (EMR).

For example, the previous decade had 1 objective about medical practices using electronic records. In Healthy People 2030, there are 4 objectives that dig further into this idea.

Similarly, Healthy People 2020 had 2 objectives related to patients having access to their electronic health information. Again, now there are 4.

The emphasis on EMR systems makes sense, since they are steady long-term solutions working toward access to personal health information and engagement in personal health goals.

Also noteworthy was a new 2030 objective to expand telehealth services. No doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated this as being such a critical service that will be integral moving forward. There weren’t other specific types of digital health technology being called out like this. In the coming years and decades, I’ll be interested to see what else might gain this status.

Objectives related to usability

Healthy People 2020 had this initiative:

“HC/HIT-8.2: Increase the proportion of health-related websites that follow established usability principles”

I thought, “cool! I wonder what’s happening in this area now!” because it is highly relevant to my work as a content designer.

A mistake, apparently.

There is no analogous objective in Healthy People 2030. For as far as technology has come, and how many innovative health and well-being related products are out there now, and with the growth of the evolution of the WCAG, I’m disappointed to see this objective hasn’t persisted, let alone expanded.

It seems as basic in terms of access to electronic health resources as having broadband internet, which definitely has an objective carried over from the previous year.

Interestingly, there was one objective that jumped out:

“Increase the proportion of people who say their online medical record is easy to understand.” (HC/HIT-D10)

As a content designer, that’s a tangible area that I can contribute to. The work may look like carefully constructing an information architecture or applying content design thinking to help a user navigate and absorb all the information their online patient portal offers. It might be targeted UX writing to improve readability. I’ve done a project like this, already.

So that’s kind of cool.

Still, while having any objectives at all is a step in the right direction, I was nevertheless underwhelmed.

Where tech can be an asset

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is an umbrella term encompassing several severe respiratory conditions. COPD affects more than 16 million people in the U.S, and is a major cause of death.

There are currently 3 Healthy People objectives related to COPD.

Wellinks has created a product to help COPD patients manage their condition. I helped Wellinks with a project to improve their onboarding process.

This is just one product in just one topic area.

I am all about it. This is what gets me so excited about healthtech.

There’s a cross-influence here between public health and commercial digital solutions. There’s conversations happening about how to measure the ROI of programs and products like these in the context of integrating them into the health care system to expand access and affordability.

I’ll be curious to see which specific health conditions, health behaviors, and/or populations are impacted and how.

How tech can hinder progress or pose new problems

While there is so much potential for positive impact, the reality is tech can be a double-edged sword when it comes to public health.

I think the most salient is the myriad of research connecting social media to mental health outcomes including alarming correlations with anxiety, depression, and suicide in adolescents. I counted 8 objectives explicitly related to these issues. However, other objectives around issues like being bullied or having access to a trusted adult to speak with also feed into these issues. Additionally, adolescents aren’t the only ones who experience these mental health problems related to online information consumption.

Another important issues is the impact of the tech industry on environmental health, which has implications for public health. Examples are increasing energy consumption for more and more data centers, and subsequent release of air pollutants that directly impact communities by affecting air quality (1 objective) and temperature (1 objective). It also adds carbon emissions that have a global health impact. And there’s the ground and water pollutants from e-waste, like lead (1 objective) and cadmium that are be carcinogenic or otherwise harmful.

These are only a couple examples.

So while tech has a lot to offer for positive change, legislation and regulation still haven’t fully caught up where it might have detrimental effects. I wonder if and how these might be addressed in the conversation of national public health in the framework of future Healthy People initiatives.

Better tech means better data

Finally, to end on, whatever else technology might bring to the public health table, the biggest contribution is the massive amounts of data it gathers, and the rate at which it accrues.

There are more resources to quickly move objectives that are still in research or development stages into actionable goals. To prioritize solutions. And to quickly identify if we’re heading in the right or wrong direction.

We can see more and more of the bigger public health picture, with more angles to view it by.

Data tells a story. The more data we have, the more depth of insight we gain into the story of our communities.

So, while I am working toward one very small piece of the puzzle – making technology easier for users to understand it and apply it to their goals of health, well-being, and quality of life – I know I am making an impact on something greater still.

If you want to know more about the larger public health KPIs your product is contributing to, find all the current objectives on the Healthy People 2030 website.

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Interested in partnering? Let’s talk to see how I can help you create a comfortable digital health experience. Drop me a note at evy.haan@gmail.com.

Photo by Ryan Wilson on Unsplash