We live in an information-driven world, and health and senior care are no exception. Senior care providers and healthcare organizations rely on clear data to make decisions about their members' needs and to collect reimbursement. The obsession with information isn't going to let up, either, as health reform provisions continue to be implemented (see the timeline from Kaiser Family Foundation for more detail). Organizations will be required to offer clear evidence of how they're improving quality and cutting costs to avoid penalties.

Technology is at the core of this streamlined data gathering process — but we need to do more with technology than just collect data. We must utilize the tools at our fingertips to truly impact outcomes and create a healthier, more motivated population. After all, what is the point of having all this information if it doesn't actually drive behavior change? 

Banking offers a great analogy to the type of transformation that we need in health and senior care. Just a few short decades ago, people had to travel to a bank and meet with a banker to manage their accounts. With the advent of internet banking in the mid-1990's, the limitations of time and place were suddenly transcended for the everyday person. And today, mobile apps and new capabilities are not only providing secure information, they are helping people better manage funds and change their spending patterns.

In healthcare, we've already seen steps one and two take place. Over the past decade or two, advanced technologies have made an incredible level of data gathering possible. As one example, the early versions of remote monitoring and telehealth technologies gave providers a rare vision into how patients are doing in their own homes, without requiring them to come into the hospital. This was truly an innovation in technology and a step forward in better care.

But where do we go from there? What really inspires people to change their eating and activity habits to pave the way for a healthier lifestyle? The teams at Intel Corporation and Intel-GE Care Innovations™ spent many years asking this question, talking with real patients and providers while looking deeply into health psychology, psychotherapy, behavioral economics and the study of influence. Ultimately, they revealed 20 rules on how to create real behavior change. These evidence-based guidelines are at the core of the Intel-GE Care Innovations™ Guide, a next-generation remote health management system. 

It's time for us to shift our technological focus away from pure data-gathering and towards a tried-and-true method of changing behaviors.  Exploring technologies that can achieve real lifestyle change have the potential to help successful senior care providers and healthcare organizations excel – and stay profitable – in today's post-reform landscape.

Shannon McIntyre is the communications manager at Intel-GE Care Innovations™.