“Microsoft is a company that deeply cares for people.”
- Healthcare (Microsoft Band & Microsoft Health)
- Education (Microsoft Book)
- Privacy Concerns
- With Windows 10 feedback invitation and Android Office preview feedback invitation, Microsoft has made it clear that Microsoft cares for what its consumers want.
Microsoft Band and Microsoft Health could prove to be revolutionary by playing a vital role in urging people to make better lifestyle choices and reduce diseases and in the long run, reduce Healthcare costs.
- Social Layer, Gamification Layer, Quantified Self & US Healthcare
- The Privacy Concern
- The “Aesthetics” Factor
A Social Layer has to be built on top of Microsoft Health.
- Social pressure
- Motivations from friends and family,
- Awareness and knowledge of health benefits
can make wonders.
“I ran 5 miles … Let me see…. Jim ran 7 miles today …. OK, I’ll run 8 miles tomorrow.”
What better scenario could there be than conscious Citizens taking care of their own health?
“Let’s see who can reduce weight by 10 pounds in the least amount of time.”
Your health data getting into the hands of Insurance Companies could have horrible consequences.
“So, this guy’s wearables say he has very high risk for Heart Diseases and we are not going to sell insurance to him but only to those who have low risks for Heart Disease.”
“Why not prioritize disease prevention programs and motivational programs that encourage healthy lifestyle choices so that we have less sick people to start with? Obesity and poor lifestyle choices are surely among causes of diseases. Less sick people translates into less visits to doctors and less visits to doctors translate into less health insurance prices. If health insurance prices go down, more people would have health insurances.
Let’s try to understand it through an example.
Suppose, visits to doctor cost a person say, “A” $100 a month and another person say, “B” $50 a month. Now, the insurance company that sells healthcare insurances to “A” and “B”, sells each of the monthly insurances for $80. So, “A” and “B” together spend $80 + $80 = $160 to buy their insurances and the insurance company has to spend $100 + $50 = $150 to bear the cost of visits to doctor. Now, suppose “A” and “B” learned to take better care of their health. As a result, they have monthly healthcare costs of $60 and $40 respectively. Now, the insurance company has no way but to reduce their insurance fees. Thus, by taking better care of their health, “A” and “B” forced the insurance companies to reduce prices for insurance.“
