Accept the Blue Button Video Challenge #MyBlueBtn

The "Blue Button" is becoming a national concept and symbol for easy, electronic access to your health information. In an effort to increase awareness about the "Blue Button" and to spread Blue Button fever across the nation, we invite you to accept the Blue Button Video Challenge by visiting http://BlueButtonvideo.challenge.gov. The challenge is simple: create a short, < 2 min video that mentions the “Blue Button” and encourages others to learn more about it by visiting www.healthIT.gov/bluebutton.

Many people have never actually thought about the importance of having 24x7 electronic access to their health information such as current medications and drug allergies, claims and treatment data, and lab results. But it can suddenly become incredibly relevant, and potentially life-saving, in case of an emergency and may come in handy if you are traveling, seeing multiple doctors or seeking a second opinion. Being able to "Blue Button" your health data--download and share it with people you trust—can be really useful. Increasingly, you can also plug that health data into mobile apps and other tools that help you to better understand your health, prevent illness, and modify your own behavior in healthy ways. Study after study shows that engaged patients recover more quickly, and stay healthy longer

To learn more about this challenge, please visit: http://BlueButtonVideo.Challenge.gov.

GooPatient - a PHR that works like Twitter

If you're familiar with Twitter, you understand hashtags. Imagine using hashtags in a similar way to flag your medical problems in your personal health record.

GooPatient is a simple Personal Health Records software that works like Twitter. Here's a short video explaining GooPatient:

VA Challenges IT Geeks and Industry to Spread Access to Personal Health Records

VA will offer a $50,000 prize to the first team or individual to build a personal health record using the Blue Button download format and arrange for the record’s installation on the websites of 25,000 physicians in the United States. The contest runs through October 18, 2011 – unless a winner is declared sooner.

The contest builds on VA’s offer to its health care enrollees the ability to download their personal health records securely from VA’s computer system, where a recent upgrade has allowed them to see their laboratory results.

Google Health will be discontinued

Wow, I did not expect this.


Google Health will be discontinued as a service.
The product will continue service through January 1, 2012.
After this date, you will no longer be able to view, enter or edit data stored in Google Health. You will be able to download the data you stored in Google Health, in a number of useful formats, through January 1, 2013.

You can read about this on the Google Blog.

Doctor-Patient Interaction and Web 2.0

This is a guest post by Joy Paley.

MedicineandTechnology.com has been covering interesting medical uses for Web 2.0, such as using Twitter to find out real time information about Swine Flu. Web 2.0 is defined by interactivity: it allows people to contribute in new ways to the Net, and in response they find that they can get more out of it.

But, while 2.0 can be a fun and useful tool for disseminating medical info, are there any potential institutional uses of Web 2.0 for medicine? A new paper from the symposium The Effects of Health Information Technology on the Physician-Patient Relationship explores just that. Two medical ethicists, Bernard Lo and Lindsay Parham, discuss emerging uses of Web 2.0 in physician-patient interaction and the potential issues that they bring. Here’s a summary of their findings.

Potential medical uses of 2.0 technology

• Personally controlled health records (PCHRs): PCHRs can be thought of as the Web 2.0 of electronic medical records (EMRs). While EMRs are controlled only by health professionals at clinics and hospitals, personally controlled health records would allow patients, from their home, to input health information into their chart. The paper gives the example of a diabetic patient inputting their blood glucose levels, in order to provide a more comprehensive health record.
• Physician-rated websites: Today, up to three-quarters of Internet users search for health information on the Net. However, research also points out that most people never check the websites they are reading for signs that the information is accurate, such as a date, references, or physician review of the site. Websites clearly rated by physicians could give those surfing for health info a quick and easy way to determine if what they’re reading is trustworthy.
• Health-based social networking sites: One important aspect of Web 2.0 is the idea of collective knowledge. And, while many already seek group help in forums or chats based on specific health concerns, health-specific social networks could be a more streamlined and efficient way to facilitate this interaction. 

Blue Button for Downloading Health Information

New Markle Survey Finds U.S. Public and Doctors Alike Support ‘Blue Button’ for Downloading Health Information

· Roughly 2 in 3 of the public and doctors agree that people should be able to download their personal health information.
· Government leads the way: Both Medicare and the VA for the first time ever offer a blue button for beneficiaries and veterans.
· Delivering electronic copies to patients is important, majority of public says, for billions in health IT incentives to doctors and hospitals to be well-spent.
· More than 80 percent of the public and doctors call privacy safeguards an important requirement for health IT incentives program.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Both the U.S. public and doctors overwhelmingly agree that people should be able to go online to download copies of their medical information, according to a new survey released today by the Markle Foundation.

Snapshots of the Markle Survey on Health in a Networked Life 2010—the first of its kind to compare public and doctor priorities for health information technology—will be previewed at the Health 2.0 conference this week in San Francisco.

Patients with chronic diseases are less likely to use the Internet

According to a recent report titled, "Chronic Disease and the Internet" that was published by Pew Internet & American Life Project:

U.S. adults living with chronic disease are significantly less likely than healthy adults to have access to the internet (62% vs. 81%). 

How will these patients gain access to valuable online disease management resources? After all, aren't these the individuals who should be using online personal health records and interactive disease management tools? Shouldn't they be the ones participating in online forums, sharing stories, and encouraging each other with social support? So much consumer health education content is written specifically for patients who have several chronic conditions and who need to learn ways to improve the self management of their conditions. How will they gain access to this information if they're not getting online?

As the general patient population gets more comfortable with computers and the Internet, they are also at risk for misinformation. After all, a large proportion of health content that's published on the Internet is inaccurate and I don't think we'll ever know how to quantify this amount given the volume of blogs and forums where people are talking about medical conditions.

You can read the report titled, "Chronic Disease and the Internet" here. This report is the result of collaboration between the Pew Internet Project and the California HealthCare Foundation

Do we risk losing privacy by switching to electronic health records?

There are many people out there who fear that their medical data will be at greater risk for theft once we convert from a paper system to an electronic system. That's a legitimate fear. After all, we've heard many stories where hospitals and health clinics lost patient data when a laptop got stolen or when hackers infiltrated electronic medical databases. It's much more difficult for someone to break into a file room and dig out your paper medical chart.

Given that we now live in a digital era, we must leverage the latest data security measures to ensure patient privacy and data integrity. Sometimes I wonder if online health portals will have more robust IT security measures compared to online banking portals. What do you value more? Your health data privacy or your money in the bank?

It's good to know that researchers are constantly developing new ways to preserve patient privacy. Some are developing algorithms to protect the privacy of patient data while allowing clinical researchers to use the same patient data to answer clinical questions. Other companies are relying on biometric scanners like fingerprint readers and retina scanners to ensure that hackers are not able to "crack" your password and log in as you. 

As hospitals and medical offices switch to electronic health records this year, I hope that administrators and physicians are thinking about the importance of patient privacy as they handle all this electronic patient data.

PHRs motivate patients to improve health

New national survey FINDS personal health records motivate consumers to improve their health

• Tools that help people manage their health are still not widely used
• Doctors may hold key to increasing adoption

Oakland, CA — Americans who have access to their health information through personal health records (PHRs) report that they know more about their health, ask more questions, and take better care of themselves than when their health information was less accessible to them in paper records, according to a ground-breaking study released today by the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF).

The survey indicates one in 14 Americans has used a personal health record, double the number of users from a year earlier. Users say that secure, password-protected PHRs give them the confidence they need to access their personal information online, and when they do, they pay more attention to their health. One in three PHR users say they used the PHR to take a specific action to improve their health – sparking hope that these technologies could be the long-awaited tools that help engage patients in taking better care of themselves. Surprisingly, the benefits of PHR use are most valued among populations that have been difficult for health care providers to engage:  those with multiple chronic conditions, less education, and lower incomes.

Amkai to provide portals for surgical patients

AMKAI EMBRACES PATIENT PORTAL SOLUTIONS
Amkai joins forces with Medfusion to provide surgical customers and affiliated practices patient-to-provider communication solutions

Waterbury, CT and Cary, NC ---March 9, 2010 --- Amkai  announced today that they have selected Medfusion, the forerunner in patient-to-provider online communication solutions, to provide ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals and affiliated practices with a HIPAA-compliant patient portal to improve office efficiencies.

Evolving role of the PHR and international health

Cardiac patients are often told to carry a photocopy of their latest EKG (or ECG) when they travel. This way, if they happen to suffer chest discomfort and if they end up in an emergency room, they can quickly provide a copy of their latest EKG so that clinicians can compare that EKG to the current EKG.

Given that more and more patients are now using a digital personal health record or PHR, will this mean that we can simply keep digital copies of studies like an EKG or chest X-ray on web-based PHRs? What if you end up in a remote hospital that lacks Internet access? What if the ER doesn’t allow you to sit in front of a computer to retrieve your medical records?

Paper is nice, but what happens if you lose that piece of paper? Future travelers will probably always carry a laptop, tablet, netbook, or some other mobile computing device (maybe even an iPad) so that they can keep copies of their latest vital medical records on these mobile devices.

Project HealthDesign selects five teams

TRACKING AND SHARING OBSERVATIONS FROM DAILY LIFE COULD TRANSFORM CHRONIC CARE MANAGEMENT

‘Project HealthDesign’ Selects Five Teams to Test Use of Personal Health Applications to Capture and Integrate Patient-Recorded Data into Clinical Care

Princeton, N.J. – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today named five teams selected for an innovative program to explore how patient-recorded observations of daily living (ODLs) can be captured and integrated into clinical care. New technologies, such as smartphones and sensors, make it possible to gather information – such as diet, exercise, sleep patterns, medication usage and pain – from the flow of people’s lives. RWJF, through its Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records national program, has awarded a total of more than $2.4 million to five grantee teams to test whether and how information – such as the stress levels of caregivers of premature infants and medication-taking routines of seniors at risk of cognitive decline – can be collected, interpreted and acted upon by patients as well as clinicians in real-world clinical settings.

Each team will receive a two-year, $480,000 grant. Since 2006, RWJF has committed a total of $9.5 million in grant funds and technical assistance to Project HealthDesign, which is led by a team of experts working in health information technology and patient-centered care at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

#HIMSS10 Physician Synergy Sessions about PHRs (overflowing room)

This morning, I came out of a Physician Synergy Session tiled, "Transactional Patient Portals - What, Why, and How." Eric Liderman, MD, MPH, along with his team from Kaiser Permanente (KP) were discussing some of their experiences with a personal health record (PHR) and the room was packed!

The KP example involved "My Health Manager" and the speakers were presenting some very interesting data from their network of physicians and patients. Here are some interesting tidbits from this session:

• 57% of patients want some type of secure PHR
• over 40% of KP patients are active users of the "My Health Manager" PHR
• The use of this PHR boosted patient retention, satisfaction, and involvement in their health
• Patients are provided with links to a health/drug encyclopedia so that they can learn about their health "at the moment" they are presented with the information
• When the PHR service was provided, patients were very eager to look up their lab results
• The Medicare population is the most active group utilizing online prescription refills (they probably also take the most medications compared to other groups) 
• Exposing data to consumers reveals weaknesses in the clinical process
• Physician advisory boards and physician champions are key to the successful adoption, implementation and use of a PHR

Many major health plans are now reimbursing for "eCare," so if you're a physician and you've been thinking about using secure messaging to communicate with your patients and deliver care, you should look into this. 

What's happening at Keas?

Have you heard of Keas? Maybe you've heard of Adam Bosworth. He's a Harvard grad (I think he should have gone to MIT) and he headed Google Health when he was at Google. Now, he's the Founder, President & CEO of Keas.

Keas (www.keas.com) is an interactive service that enables the best medical minds in healthcare to provide individuals with ongoing advice and interpretation about their unique health data—such as lab results and current conditions—and help them take action to achieve their health goals. The mission of Keas™ is simple: To help you understand what your health data means and how you can use it to be as healthy as possible.

So, what's happening at Keas these days? The latest news is a press release from Feb 8: 

Pfizer and Keas Partner to Help Consumers Take a More Active Role in Their Health and Wellness

Pfizer and Keas announced today they have entered into an alliance to collaborate on the Keas platform to enable Health and Wellness experts to author, sell and distribute personalized online Care Plans directly to patients. Pfizer and Keas will collaborate to develop care plans and related capabilities that seek to provide consumers, patients and their providers an intuitive, engaging, easy-to-use, and low-cost way to manage their health & wellness, prevention and care delivery...

Having worked in the personal health record or PHR space in the past, I'm very curious to see what happens with Keas as this company takes a different approach to disease and wellness management through their care plans.

Empowering patients to use technology to manage their care

The American Medical Association (AMA) is having a series of health information technology (health IT) webinars and the final episode will focus on empowering patients to use technology to manage their care.  

Learn how technology enables remote monitoring, patient self-management and reporting, teleconsultation and electronic visits—all of which can help your practice efficiently manage patients during “Engaging patients in using technology to manage their personal health care,” a free webinar scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. Eastern time Feb. 4.

The webinar is the final program in a four-part series from the AMA and TransforMED, a subsidiary of the American Academy of Family Physicians, that aims to help physician practices successfully implement health information technology (IT) and improve their efficiency and quality of care. Visit the AMA health IT Web site and click on “Health IT webinars” to learn more about this program and view others in the series.

How do we empower patients so that they can know how to responsibly leverage technology to manage their own conditions? The Internet contains a ton of inaccurate health information. Do most patients know how to recognize reliable health content?

Free e-Prescribing with Practice Fusion (free EHR)

You may have already heard this, but Practice Fusion (free EHR) now offers a free e-Prescribing solution. Have your DEA and NPI numbers ready.

Practice Fusion Launches Free e-Prescribing

e-Prescribing system integrated into free, web-based EHR. Available to all doctors. Helps avoid medication errors, qualifies for Medicare incentives, saves time and serves patients.

Practice Fusion's free e-prescribing system includes:

    * Connection to over 50,000 pharmacies
    * Continuously updated medication library
    * Same-day enrollment for most providers
    * Flexibility to use e-prescribing as a stand-alone feature or as part of the comprehensive free EHR system
    * Easy pharmacy look-up with filters for proximity to the practice or patient address
    * Refill requests delivered back to the practice directly from the pharmacy
    * Instant prescription details delivered to the patient Personal Health Record online
    * Unlimited free set-up assistance, migration help, training and support
    * Qualification for the Medicare e-prescribe bonus

You can read the full press release here.

2009 was about H1N1, health care reform, and health IT

Wow, 2009 is nearly over! This was the year of swine flu (H1N1). We saw it, many of us experienced it, and now we're not sure what H1N1 will look like in 2010. Is it here to stay and cause problems every year? Or, will this virus somehow mutate and become a thing of the past?

2009 was also a year where we saw so much happen in health care reform. The HITECH provisions within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 drove significant changes in the health IT space and we will continue to see major changes in 2010. The buzz around EHR, EMR, PHR, and CPOE has never been stronger (the world of Health IT is all about strange acronyms). Meetings like HIMSS and AHIMA have never been more full of energy.

As we prepare for 2010, I'm sure many of us are wondering what type of impact H1N1 will make this winter. Will we see a second wave of swine flu?

Also, are you prepared for all the health IT changes that will be taking place in your hospital/office/practice in 2010?

It's been an amazing year and it's flown by so quickly. They say that time seems to go faster as you get older. Do you think that's true for you? It sure feels like it for me.

MEDFUSION MAINTAINS LEADERSHIP IN PATIENT PORTAL PERFORMANCE

MEDFUSION MAINTAINS LEADERSHIP IN PATIENT PORTAL PERFORMANCE

For the third consecutive year, Medfusion is ranked the leader in patient portals in the KLAS 2009 “Software Category Leader”

Raleigh, NC – December 18, 2009 – This week Medfusion was announced as the “KLAS 2009 Software Category Leader” in patient portals by KLAS, a research firm that independently gathers and reports accurate, honest and impartial vendor performance information for the healthcare industry.

(read more...)

AMAfluhelp.org for professionals and consumers

Remember that AMAfluhelp.org is available as an online resource for both health care professionals and consumers (patients). AMAfluhelp.org features some great web-based tools and resources.

Are you a patient? Some of the many features and benefits for Patients include:

• Health Sessions - A directory of Health Session Programs offers you a variety of personalized, condition-specific health and wellness programs authored by expert health professionals. These Health Sessions are delivered on a scheduled basis and consist of a brief set of questions and answers, educational information specific to the symptoms, vital signs, medication issues related to your health conditions and goals. Based on your answers, you receive immediate feedback and expert guidance.
• Health Team - This Feature allows you to invite family caregivers, friends, and/or your doctor and other health professionals to join your health team. Upon accepting your invitation, members of your Health team can receive secure reports and notifications generated from your health sessions.
• Health Team Messages Center - Your Health Team members can better communicate through a secure message board that allows you, your family caregivers, and the health professionals involved in your care to post notes and recommendations that will assure better coordination of care. Recommendations generated by each completed Health Session are also posted to the message board for your Health Team to review.
• Personal Health Record - Through connectivity with Microsoft® HealthVault™, you can get your latest medication list, receive lab results and immunization records electronically, store x-rays, and EKGs. You can also upload, store, and graph measurements from home blood pressure monitors, glucose meters, and other devices.

Are you a health care professional? Important features and functions of AMAFluHelp.org for healthcare professionals include:

• Session Alerts Dashboard - This exception-management triage tool makes it easy to identify which Patients need the most attention according to the rules logic algorithm built into the Health Session Program(s). The dashboard is a customizable tabular viewer, consisting of rows and columns. Each row displays the responses from each patient Health Session by date in a green-yellow-red color-coded alert criteria. These responses are divided into columns representing various question types including symptoms, vital signs, medications, behavior, knowledge and others. The dashboard gives Healthcare Professionals the ability to monitor and manage up to 2,000 Patients who have granted access to their records via the Health Team invitation.
• Patient Record - Double-clicking on any patient row in the Session Alerts Dashboard will show an entire patient record, including their detailed Health Session responses, medication list, vital signs, alerts summary, and patient notes, and listing of the Patient Health Team members and message center.
• Health Team Message Center - Members of the Patient’s Health Team can communicate through a secure message board that allows the health professionals, you, your family caregivers, and involved in your care to post notes and recommendations that will improve coordination of care. Recommendations generated from completed Health Session are also posted to the Message Board and made available to the Health Team.

Visit AMAfluhelp.org

Microsoft HealthVault in Thailand

Microsoft's personal health record (PHR) service HealthVault is going to Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. I've never been to Thailand but I know some people who moved to live there a few years ago. Here's a snippet from InformationWeek about HealthVault in Thailand:

With HealthVault, international patients who receive treatment at Bumrungrad will be able to access and share their medical records via the Web once they're back home, promoting continuity of care. The records are available free to Bumrungrad's approximately 420,000 international patients as well as to those living locally.

Bumrungrad has 1.5 million patients, and about 45,000 of those annually are Americans who travel to Thailand for healthcare services that are too expensive in the U.S., or aren't readily available to them if they're living outside the U.S. as expatriates.

Sounds like some exciting developments in the international PHR space. Since we're all connected by the Internet, it should be relatively easy to access health records from anywhere in the world. I'm sure we'll be hearing some interesting things about Google Health in the near future as they make inroads in the PHR space.