The NHS And Disruptive Innovation
I’m a great fan of disruptive innovation. It summed up in Wikipedia as follows.
A disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network (over a few years or decades), displacing an earlier technology.
In some ways the classic disruptive innovation is iTunes, where Apple changed the music industry totally.
I, of course, would be a fan, because my first great success was Artemis, which took the project management industry out of the domain of large mainframe computers and cumbersome management structures into a computer that fitted under a desk.
But I have given this post, the title I have, as the NHS and other health systems is coming under pressure from disruptive innovation.
My other big innvation success was also disruptive innovation.
I was one of the backers of the technology that led to Respimat, a metered-dose inhaler.
That device seems to be too disruptive, as despite many years of development, I don’t think it is in general use.
It doesn’t use any batteries, compressed gases, nasty chemicals and is affordable to be throwaway. But despite their HCFC propellants, the incumbents in the healthcare industry, have not given market share.
But I have the satisfaction, that because of my scientific knowledge and practical experience, I spotted that the guys I backed could do something special. At least too, when I sold my share, I was well rewarded.
I do feel though that the NHS doesn’t do things in the same way as perhaps John Lewis would, when it comes to handling new methods of working.
As an example I was talking to my excellent GP about how having my cholesterol results on my blog, helped the doctors in Hong Kong when I had my stroke. I said it would be great if all our medical records were searchable on line. We were also discussing a small operation I had on my nose ten years ago and wondering if it should be done again to stop the nose bleeds I sometimes get.
We then both said that computerisation had been an expensive farce, but we were both agreed it would be a good thing, especially if like me you travel a lot. He did say Google launched something called Google Health, but that has now been discontinued. Read about it here.
So did the general conservatism of health professionals and a lot of the general public kill the project. Google don’t have many failures.
Reading about it, it seems that it would have been something I would have used.
If I look too at my Coaguchek, that is classic disruptive innovation. I don’t know how many use the device in the UK, but I suspect it’s not a large proportion of those who could benefit from such a device.
I suspect though that in a few years this device and its probably simpler successors will be as accepted as the monitors used by diabetics.
Small personal patient used technology like this will become more common. After all, we now have a population, who love their gadgets and what better gadget is there, than one that helps you improve your health.
The NHS is going to have to get used to new technology and especially where that technology shows substantial cost savings. But a lot of it, will mean changes in methods and management structures.
Disruptive innovation will improve the NHS, but it will be an NHS with a different number and type of hospitals, and staff not always deployed as they are now.
A New On-Line Film Site
I caught this article at the bottom of a page in the Standard yesterday. The title describes it in one.
New player to stream 1,000 British films spanning a century.
It’s all here on the BFI.
i’ve signed up and it supposedly starts on next Wednesday.
A Sky Satellite Dish Is So Yesterday
I’ve just looked up what football matches, I can watch over the next few days, through my steam-driven broadband, BT Sport and Freeview.
Tonight, BT are showing Wigan, whilst ITV4 is showing Swansea and Tottenham. All in the Uefa Cup. As I’m seeing Wigan on Sunday, as I’m going to see Ipswich play there, it’s rather a no-brainer, which matches I’ll watch.
Tomorrow, I’m busy in Liverpool, but the only match is on BT and it’s a German one. I’m not that sad yet!
Saturday, BT are showing a Premier League match, but as it’s Norwich, I assume they are going to pay me to watch it! Later I might want to watch Fulham on Sky, but obviously I can’t!
Sunday has some good matches on Sky, but I’m on the train going to Wigan and back to watch Ipswich. At least Virgin’s trains are higher up the speed and reliability scale compared to their broadband.
So BT Sport’s deal of free football with broadband, is equivalent to a supermarket giving away burgers made of horsemeat. It may look good, but it’s not what you want.
I’m almost getting to the point where I put up a satellite dish for Sky.
But that is yesterday’s old technology and I would only rip it out again, when fibre optic broadband became available. I’ve no objections to Sky as a company, as they gave me good service, when I lived in Suffolk.
Fibre-optic broadband would give me everything I want. But when will someone deliver it to me? Or is Hackney too rural for it to be hooked up? On the other hand if Innerleithen, in the Scottish Borders can have fibre optic broadband, why can’t I?
BT are keeping the delivery date secret! Which of course means I can’t plan!
I have written to my MP, Meg Hillier, who is also the member for Silicon Roundabout and Shoreditch. She said this in a letter to me.
I am very aware of issues around broadband in Hackney, particularly in the Tech City area around Shoreditch. The growth of these cutting edge businesses in my constituency is an exciting addition but I am very concerned that the infrastructure to support their tech needs is not in place.
She obviously has more clout than any Hackney resident, so if you have a desperate need for fibre-optic broadband, I’d send her an e-mail. The best way is to use WriteToThem.
Poor Computer System Design
I just tried to make a payment through my on-line bank account. As the payee has moved their account since last time, I needed to change the sort code and account umber. But you have to delete the old entry and re-enter a new one, as there is no other way.
I finally did the transfer, but even then, there were quite a few textual bugs in the screens I saw.
This is very poor system design and is another entry in that fat book called How Not To Design A Banking System.
The Peer-To-Peer Invisible Firewall
I still have some money on deposit with my bank, as I need it to pay builders and things like that, but I don’t think I will have it there for much longer.
This morning, I got a load of messages trying to target my non-existent NatWest account. As I have never had a message targeting any of my peer-to-peer lending accounts, it would seem logical that any fraudster will more likely get my bank account details than say those of the peer-to-peer lenders.
But suppose they did break into my peer-to-peer accounts, they could only transfer money back to my main bank account, which was used to load the money to the accounts. So I doubt it would do them any good.
So to get any of my money out of the peer-to-peer sites, they’d probably need to take complete control of the site and replace the software with their own.
With my software hat on, I would propose that that is virtually impossible.
So in my view in addition to the obvious security on peer-to-peer sites, there is an additional invisible firewall, due to the design of the sites.
This would make them a very unlikely target for a sophisticated criminal. They would find it easier to set up a completely bogus site and get punters to deposit money with them, for onward transmission out of the country. Hopefully, that would be spotted, given the high-profile nature of sites like Zopa, Funding Circle and Ratesetter, who have been through the mill on credibility with the media, regulators and politicians.
They can’t all be wrong!
Disappointing BT Sport
As a BT broadband customer, who used to get Sky Sports through them, I am disappointed with their new BT Sports. The only decent football matches are on Saturday lunchtime, when I’m travelling to see Ipswich, either home or away. The solution is probably fibre-optic broadband, but I can’t get this where I live, within walking distance of the City of London.
Abbey National Lives
On Wednesday, I got some money out of a cash point machine in Bethnal Green. It was a branch of Santander and it was close to a bus stop, so was convenient, as I was waiting for the bus.
This morning, four days later it appeared on my on-line bank statement fully annotated.
Cash machine wdl Abbey
According to Wikipedia, Abbey was rebranded as Santander in 2010. But obviously, they haven’t updated the computer systems.
It seems to me, that millions of crap programmers are alive and well and working for banks.
It’s Just Not Good Enough!
On Sunday morning, I heard a guy called the Casual Hopper on BBC Radio 5. As he was raising money for a reputable cancer-related charity, I thought I might send him a donation.
So I logged in to his Just Giving page and donated, using my John Lewis Partnership card. I got an acknowledgement from Just Giving, as expected. However, a few minutes later, I got a message from them saying that the payment had been rejected. Now as I’d just paid my credit card bill, I knew that I was some thousands of pounds below my credit card limit.
I then attempted to login to my Partnership card account and found the problem. Their system was down and I couldn’t log in.
I have managed to login this morning, but there is no trace of the payment to the Casual Hopper. In fact, there is no trace of any payments made by the account and I used the card twice yesterday in Sainsburys and Waitrose.
If we can use our cards on a 24-hour basis, surely we ought to be able to see the information in a likewise manner.
After all, if I missed a payment, they’d be on me like a ton of bricks.
It’s just not good enough!
Especially, as it’s caused grief and extra work to a whole series of people like the Casual Hopper, Just Giving and of course myself.
Why You Should Have A Personal E-Mail Address
I use a personal .com e-mail address based on my name and have done for many years. I always recommend that people have an e-mail address based on something like a .com, .co.uk or something related to where you live.
it was brought home to me this morning, about what a pain not doing this can be.
A friend has just changed their Internet supplier from BT to Sky. They used to use a BT e-mail address and now they’ve had to change to a Sky one! Consequently all of their friends have had to be informed and will have to update the entries in their address books. I don’t use a smart phone for e-mails, so with me all I have to update is Microsoft Outlook.
Incidentally, I’ve just looked up my friend’s probably preferred e-mail address and it is available at six pounds for two years.
That sounds like a small price to pay for something that will last forever and won’t ask your friends to change again.
The Anonymous Widower 