Push To Allow NHS Patients To See Medical Records Online

From TechWeek Europe:

NHS patients should be able to see their medical records online by 2015, under a proposal from the NHS Future Forum, a group of leading doctors advising the Government over its health reforms.

According to its proposals, the Forum’s idea is that people essentially “own” their medical personal health records, and should be able to see their medical history, download their case notes, and even see the comments made by GPs and medical staff (providing they can read the writing) about their particular case or ailment. Patients will also be able to order their repeat prescriptions and make appointments online, free-of-charge.

ONLINE PROPOSALS

“We fully support NHS patients having online access to their personal GP records,” Lord Howe, a health minister, was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph. “Our vision for a modern NHS is to give patients more information and control over their health.”

“That’s why the independent NHS Future Forum has continued to listen specifically on this issue and how we make it a reality for patients,” he said.

But the plans are likely to face opposition from some elements of the medical profession concerned over patient confidentially.

They could oppose the proposal because of fears that family or friends could gain access to sensitivehealth information about some patients. They may also have concerns that their confidential medical notes, giving frank, personal appraisals of the patients, will be viewed by the patient and could damage relationships.

Another worry is whether GP practices will actually be able to physically cope with digitising all their patients medical history records, and whether the NHS can actually deliver a workable system for these proposals.

POOR TRACK RECORD

Of course, the government will be acutely aware of previous-botched NHS computer projects in this regard, most notably the notorious NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) scheme.

The NPfIT system was proposed in 2002 by the then Labour government to provide better communications across the NHS infrastructure, based around a central database for patients’ medical records, scans and X-rays.

The project came under continuous criticism for rising costs and dubious management. The flawed plan was then inherited by the current Coalition government which in September, 2010, pledged to pull the plug on it.

A year later, the government finally confirmed it was writing off the costs and axing the project.

PHR: Gingrich ‘Loophole’ Offers Lobbyist Access for Consultant Cash

From Bloomberg Business Week:

Testifying before Senate committees in 2003 and 2006, Newt Gingrich commanded attention as a former House speaker. He used the opportunities to share his vision of the future of health care -- and to mention a few clients.

Both times he singled out HealthTrio LLC, an electronic health-care personal health record (PHR)  company and an early member of Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation. As a member, the Denver-based company would have paid as much as $200,000 a year to the for- profit center.

HealthTrio was one of dozens of companies that benefited from its relationship with Gingrich, who had access to lawmakers and opportunities to advance their interests that go well beyond those of a standard Washington lobbyist. Gingrich insists he never lobbied, and he never registered as a lobbyist.

“I call it the Gingrich loophole,” said Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists in Alexandria, Virginia. “It’s not lobbying under the law, he’s right about that. It is lobbying in reality.”

Lobbyists must register their work with Congress if they have a paying client, make at least two contacts on behalf of the client and spend at least 20 percent of their time working for that client during a three-month period. Gingrich’s work often dovetailed with the work lobbyists do, even though he probably didn’t hit the 20 percent threshold, Marlowe said.

Providing Information

While lobbyists sometimes work behind closed doors to make deals and help draft legislation, much of their time is spent simply providing information to lawmakers and clients or trying to raise a client’s profile before agencies and congressional offices that can affect their interests. Often that means getting a meeting with a legislative director or chief of staff for a senator or representative.

PHR: iTriage to Integrate Microsoft HealthVault Data with Its Mobile Apps

Healthcare software maker iTriage has announced that it plans to integrate Microsoft's HealthVault personal healthcare record (PHR) with its iPhone and Android apps next year enabling users to access their personal health records stored on Microsoft's service straight from their mobile devices.

"PHRs offer consumers a great way to monitor their health. Our iTriage vision includes being the mobile aggregator for multiple PHRs in the future," said Peter Hudson, MD and co-founder of iTriage.

"We believe today's HealthVault PHR integration into iTriage will give consumers a convenient and easy way to access their health information anywhere, anytime." he added.

The iTriage app allows users to access information on symptoms, medical conditions, medication and procedures straight from their mobile phones and even gives them suggestions regarding where they can get their medical condition treated.

The app has been used by more than 3 million people and is available from the iTunes App Store and Android Market as a free download.

iTriage, through the press release, indirectly asked Google Health users to migrate to Microsoft HealthVault.

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2011/12/27/itriage-integrate-microsoft-healthvault-data-its-mobile-apps/#ixzz1hlOXebdX

PHRs:Patients Want To Read Doctors' Notes, But Many Doctors Balk

From NPR News:

Doctors write about their patients all the time, in notes detailing office visits and treatments. But for patients, those notes are a closed book.

Maybe the doctor has scribbled that the patient was "difficult," as Elaine discovered when she peeked at her chart in a memorable Seinfeld episode. When her dermatologist saw her snooping, he grabbed the chart out of her hands.

Well, patients seem ready to take that risk. When asked if they'd like to see their doctors' notes, patients in two new studies overwhelmingly say yes. But doctors aren't nearly as enthusiastic.

 

The idea of opening up doctor's notes has been around for decades. Advocates figure that patient oversight will reduce medical errors and help patients be more engaged. Patients have a legal right to see their records. But actually getting those notes can be expensive and slow.

Doctors and hospitals can charge whatever they want for photocopying, and can take up to two months to deliver. (Patient advocate Regina Holliday was charged 73 cents a page when she asked for copies of her husband's chart when he was dying of cancer.)

Now that doctors and hospitals are using electronic medical personal health records (PHRs), however, the process of sharing should be relatively cheap and convenient. These two surveys asked doctors and patients if they are ready to make that leap.

The first survey asked 18,741 patients of the Department of Veterans Affairs health system if they'd like to share their online personal health record with family members or other doctors. Seventy-nine percent said they would. The patients were almost all men over age 50. Many were in poor health. (Some personal health records include doctor's notes; many do not.)

But it's the second survey that really gets at the conflict over control of the medical record. It's a poll taken at the very start of OpenNotes, a yearlong experiment that aimed to measure benefits and problems when doctors let patients read their notes. (OpenNotes is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which also is an underwriter of NPR.) Both studies were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

PHR: LifeNexus Names New Chairman and Appoints Board Member

From Market Watch:

LifeNexus, the developer of the iChip and Personal Health Card(R), today announced that William Jacobs has been named Chairman of the Board and that Robert Titsch has been elected to the Board of Directors.

William "Bill" Jacobs has been a Director of LifeNexus since March 2011. Prior to joining the LifeNexus Board, Mr. Jacobs was the Senior Executive Vice President for MasterCard International MA -2.26% and the CFO of the New Power Company. At the New Power Company, Mr. Jacobs was responsible for finance, corporate development, strategic planning, and investor relations, including raising over $500 million in an IPO.

LifeNexus introduces a new era in portable health records with the Personal Health Card(R). This technology was designed specifically for maintaining an individual's Personal Health Record (PHR) on a card in their wallet. The patented iChip(TM), "Individually Controlled Health Information Platform(TM)," utilizes mobile server technology to securely store critical information including prescriptions, medical history, allergies, insurance data, emergency contacts, physician notes, as well as other key information. Individuals authorize access to critical information at the time and point of need. With sensitive information securely encrypted, password protected and "Off-the-Web" the consumer is in absolute control with the iChip. Now individuals can manage their personal health information and at their choice, the iChip can be applied to payment cards, conveniently making general day-to-day purchases on the same card.

PHRs: MMRGlobal receives $30-mln proposal to license patents

From ProactiveInvestors.com:

MMRGlobal (OTC:MMRF) said Wednesday it received a proposal by business management services company Surgery Center Management to license the company’s health information technology patents for $30 million, plus royalties.

The California-based company gained 1.6 cents, or 41.03 percent, to reach 5.5 cents today on the OTC. 

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, MMR would issue a limited non-exclusive sub-licensable license for the company’s portfolio of health information technology patents. 

Among the patents included are the company’s personal health record product line, and its electronic document management and imaging systems.

Surgery Center Management, which is privately-owned, provides general management, legal services, human resource development and medical billing and collection services. 

The offer, which excludes the company’s biotech assets and intellectual property that it has spent over $100 million in development, is subject to the signing of a definitive licensing agreement. 

MMR acquired these biotech assets through a reverse takeover of Favrille in 2009. The company said it is working to license these patents to universities and to biotech companies, among others. 

MMRGlobal is a provider of secure and easy-to-use online personal health records (PHRs) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions. It serves consumers, healthcare professionals, insurance companies and financial institutions.

Merck partner pays doctors to validate PHR data

From MobiHealthNews:

Merck Canada announced this month a deal with Mihealth to promote its PHR offering to Canadian doctors. According to Mihealth, which has an exclusive license to Diversinet’s MobiSecure platform in Canada, its PHR data is validated by a physician once a year to ensure accuracy of the health information.

Mihealth’s PHR is available for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows smartphones. The software helps patients track medications, allergies, and chronic disorders information, but it has plans to add lab tests information soon. The Mihealth service is free for physicians while patients pay from $59 a year per person and up to $224 for a family of four. Mihealth pays physicians a small fee for their yearly validation.

In January, miHealth inked a $5 million deal with Diversinet to act as the secure mobile health services provider’s exclusive distributor in Canada. miHealth’s PHR (Personal Health Records) is built upon Diversinet’s MobiSecure platform.

“Strengthening patient-doctor communications will improve the quality and quantity of information available,” stated Dr Wendy Graham, president of Mihealth, in a press release. ”The adoption of physician-validated PHRs is a particularly vital new tool to facilitate the care of the one in three Canadians living with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and lung disease.”

Physician validation was stressed by Merck as a distinguishing feature for Mihealth compared to other PHRs. Dr Graham stated that “When patients use existing services to independently keep a PHR, the non-validated data may be seen as unreliable by health professionals, a major drawback. With Mihealth, physicians validate the information once a year, ensuring accuracy and credibility and making it useful to all health professionals.”

It is not entirely clear what Merck gets out of the deal other than a new product it can offer to physicians for free, which could end up helping them make a little extra pocket change each year: “This is a new type of implication for Merck to be bringing to our health system, but no less important than a new medicine. It is another way for Merck to help Canadian healthcare providers give the best care to their patients as well as providing important efficiencies for our healthcare system,” Merck’s Canada’s Vice President of Customer Innovation Christian Sauvageau stated in a press release. “We were motivated to get involved with Mihealth because it will assist health care practitioners in improving patient health outcomes.”

DICOM Grid Releases AccessMyImages.com to Enable Easy Sharing of Diagnostic Imaging Studies

From PRNewsWire:

DICOM Grid, today announced the release of AccessMyImages.com, a Personal Health Record (PHR) for medical imaging. This allows the patient to have control of their diagnostic images and reports through a secure web application and eliminates the time and costs associated with generating imaging CDs or film.

Patients who have to access resources at multiple healthcare facilities can easily participate in their care, without concerns over transporting CDs or film.  This enables better continuity of care at a lower cost for hospitals and healthcare chains.

"AccessMyImages.com provides patients with direct access to their imaging studies and reports and utilizes the IHE open standards architecture. Patients can share their study information with physicians or healthcare providers as easily as sending an email," said Morris Panner, CEO, DICOM Grid. 

DICOM Grid will be demonstrating image sharing and additional image management capabilities at the RSNA 2011 conference in booth 1838 Lakeside Building, November 27th through December 1st and also at the IHE Image Sharing Demonstration, Hall A Booth 2851.

PHRs: GRH to implement electronic health record system by 2014

For the past few years, the Grande Ronde Hospital and its six hospital-owned clinics have been going “paper thin” as they train their physicians to generate electronic medical records for each patient encounter. However, by October 2014, all hospitals and clinics in the U.S. will be required to implement meaningful use of the electronic personal health record system in compliance with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act.

The act was signed into law on Feb. 17, 2009, and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and incentives for hospitals and professionals to adopt an Electronic Health Record system amount to about $17 billion of the $19.2 billion act.

With these incentive mechanisms, it is estimated that the adoption rates of the system will rise to 90 percent by 2019 and will result in more than $60 billion in net savings over the next five years for the U.S. healthcare system.

Parhez Sattar, GRH manager of the Information Technology department and the hospital’s information security officer, along with Sarah Hall, GRH manager of the Health Information Management department and the hospital’s privacy officer, have collaborated in recent years to convert the hospital’s paper-based system into electronic medical records. Only 10 percent of all U.S. hospitals have currently advanced to this level of information technology.

Now, however, the Grande Ronde Hospital will take information technology to the next level by integrating individual patient health records into a nationwide web-based system.

“The Grande Ronde Hospital is going toward an Electronic Health Record (system) in about two years,” said Sattar. “We’re going to start working on a personal health record website, and we’ll be starting the foundation for that in about two months.”

The purpose of the health information technology act is multi-faceted, but its stated intent is to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of patient healthcare while lowering costs.

“The Electronic Personal Health Record (E - PHR) system doesn’t necessarily save time,” said Sattar, “because physicians will have a lot more data to type into the system, but it’s more efficient and the government is requiring more information on costs and quality.”

Not surprising when one considers that 60 percent of the patients treated at the Grande Ronde Hospital are Medicare and Medicaid patients. “So we have to comply,” he said.

To comply with the act and qualify for incentives, hospitals have to purchase “certified” Electronic Health Record software and show meaningful use adoption of this system in gradual increments of time. There are several graduated stages for implementing “meaningful use” and meeting prescribed objectives. The Grande Ronde Hospital will start its compliance reporting Jan. 1.

The system is an expansive, interoperable healthcare web structure that is secure. It will connect physicians and clinicians with their patients, referring doctors, medical assistants, pharmacies, labs, other healthcare organizations and     insurers.

PHR Newa: Grant Will Help Bridge Digital Divide for People with Disabilities

Personal health records have been going electronic, and patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers are learning to navigate the new digital world of health information. Now three institutions are teaming up to discover how a large population—people with disabilities—can best access this information.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Inglis Foundation, also based in Philadelphia, are partnering with Boston public broadcaster WGBH's Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) on a joint project to explore how adaptive technology can make personal health records (PHR) accessible to people with disabilities. NCAM is the project leader and principal recipient of the three-year, $600,000 grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The grant, titled "Accessible Designs for Personal Health Records," is funded by the Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. The project began operations last month.

"Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population has some type of disability, and three percent has a severe disability, but there has been little research on how people with disabilities access their own electronic health records," said Dean Karavite, lead human-computer interaction specialist at the Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMi) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "As with any patient, accessing such information gives someone more control over their own health care."

Project staff members will systematically observe consumers served by Inglis Foundation as they perform tasks and seek information in their own electronic health records (EHRs). Inglis serves over 900 adults with physical disabilities in the Philadelphia area through its skilled nursing facility, Inglis House, and for those living independently in the community, through its accessible apartments, care management, and employment and adult day services.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/07/4036902/grant-will-help-bridge-digital.html#ixzz1dG7xwri3

Personal Health Record Service Provider ZweenaHealth.com at Health 2.0 San Francisco 2011 Conference

From DigitalJournal.com:

Personal Health Record service provider Zweena LLC (ZweenaHealth.com) attended the recent Health 2.0 San Francisco 2011 Conference. The conference was a time for professionals and providers in the healthcare and health information technology sectors to gather, brainstorm, showcase innovations and announce interesting developments. The occasion featured several events including a developer challenge, pre-conference workshops, keynote addresses, innovation showcases, sponsored presentations and networking sessions, and Zweena was on hand as a member of the consumer advocacy session and helped give voice to the consumer digital health movement. Zweena LLC is a provider of online PHR services that assembles patient medical records and organizes and digitizes them to create an electronic health record that provides updated medical information that is actionable, easy to understand and also easy and safe to manage and share.

The Zweena online PHR service works because Zweena collects information directly from doctor's offices (saving patients the time and hassle, as well as providing records that are trusted by providers) and Zweena creates an electronic record by converting patient health information into a Zweena PHR which is always available online and can be accessed from the ZweenaHealth.com website.

Zweena also collaborates with Microsoft HealthVault by updating patients' personal HealthVault accounts. Zweena also guarantees security of patients' health information by restricting access to patient records.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/475161#ixzz1caqgSehu

Microsoft Rolls Out Personal Health Records

From the New York Times:

Microsoft is starting its long-anticipated drive into the consumer health care market by offering free personal health records (PHRs) on the Web and pursuing a strategy that borrows from the company’s successful formula in personal computer software.

The move by Microsoft, which is called HealthVault and was announced today in Washington, comes after two years spent building its team, expertise and technology. In recent months, Microsoft managers have met with many potential partners including hospitals, disease-prevention organizations and health care companies.

The organizations that have signed up for HealthVault projects with Microsoft include the American Heart Association, Johnson & Johnson LifeScan, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Mayo Clinic and MedStar Health, a network of seven hospitals in the Baltimore-Washington region.The partner strategy is a page from Microsoft’s old playbook. Convincing other companies to build upon its technology, and then helping them do it, was a major reason Windows became the dominant personal computer operating system.

“The value of what we’re doing will go up rapidly as we get more partners,” said Peter Neupert, the vice president in charge of Microsoft’s health group.

The company’s consumer health offering includes a personal health record, as well as Internet search tailored for health queries, under the name Microsoft HealthVault (www.healthvault.com).

The personal information, Microsoft said, will be stored in a secure, encrypted database. Its privacy controls, the company said, are set entirely by the individual, including what information goes in and who gets to see it. The HealthVault searches are conducted anonymously, Microsoft said, and will not be linked to any personal information in a HealthVault personal health record.

Firm tries again with personal health records

Excerpt from IBJ.com:

Even though Google Inc. has given up on the business of electronic personal health records, Fort Wayne-based NoMoreClipboard.com is launching a new service it thinks will crack open the market.

The company’s latest service, called cc:Me, gives patients a free and secure web-based account that can receive their electronic medical records from any other system and also can receive new records from any electronic medical record system their doctor or hospital happens to use.

“One of the barriers to widespread consumer adoption of portable personal health records has been the difficulty of populating a PHR with existing clinical data,” said NoMoreClipboard.com President Jeff Donnell. “cc:Me simplifies the exchange of health information in an industry-standard format that is interoperable with any certified electronic health record system used by physicians and hospitals, with no need for integration.”

For doctors—especially those struggling to meet the standard for “meaningful use” of electronic medical record set by the federal Medicare program in 2009—the service might be a shortcut to compliance.

For example, the Medicare rules require doctors to send their patients electronically—and securely, so regular e-mail accounts won’t do—a “Continuity of Care Document” to keep the patients engaged in their care.

Doctors who fail to meet this and other requirements will miss out on Medicare bonus payments the next two years. And after that, doctors not using electronic medical records will get their payments from Medicare clipped by a percentage point or two.

NoMoreClipboard.com is also pitching its new product to vendors of electronic medical record systems, saying cc:me can engage patients without the vendors' needing to also sell an expensive “interface solution.”

Connectyx Technologies Announces Immediate Access to Patient Health Records Through Blue Button(R)

Excerpt from Market Watch:

Connectyx Technologies Holdings Group, Inc. (pinksheets:CTYX) ("Connectyx"), www.connectyx.com , manufacturer and distributor of the MedFlash(R), a Personal Health and Wellness Management System (ePHM) designed for maintaining personal health records (PHR), announced today that the company has been approved by the Veterans administration to utilize the VA's enhanced Blue Button(R) initiative for downloading personal medical records. The MedFlash utility in conjunction with this rapidly expanding "Blue Button" utility will enable MedFlash subscribers who access their personal medical records through MedFlash to have more options which will make it possible for them to download, print, and share their information as part of their MedFlash membership. The downloadable data can be in a text file or as an enhanced PDF, which then can be shared as part of their MedFlash Personal Health Profile with first responders or health care professionals through the MedFlash "Blue Button(R)" link. Self-entered data elements currently available for download include:

        --  Allergies and Adverse Reactions (pharmaceutical allergies and physical             allergies)         --  Demographic Information         --  Emergency Contact Information         --  Family Health History (Self and Relatives)         --  Health Care Providers         --  Health Data (i.e. blood sugar, blood pressure, weight, etc.)         --  Health Insurance         --  Immunizations         --  Lab and Test Results         --  Medical Conditions and Personal Medical History         --  Medications, Herbals, and Supplements         --  Treatment Facilities         --  Vitals and Readings          

In August 2010, the President of the United States announced the Blue Button initiative which would offer patients one-click access to all of their personal healthcare data. The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) developed the program with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Markle Foundation's Consumer Engagement Workgroup. Recently, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology conducted a conference announcing to health information technology vendors that they should "set data free," enabling patients to have secure and easy access to their personal health records information through Blue Button.

How To Fix The Personal Health Record Mess

Excerpt from InformationWeek:

How many patients have taken on the project of digitizing their personal health records? My guess is not many. Most people who have bothered to collect and manage their healthcare information are more likely to have a large box somewhere at home stuffed with lab reports, hospital discharge instructions, and receipts for care, but have not bothered to take the next step.

Of course, there are small and large vendors out there who can help. And some health insurers and employers also offer assistance through consortium groups like Dossia. However, a lot that information is derived from claims data, which doesn't always provide a complete picture of the patient either. Sometimes, the data suggests that blood work was done, for instance, but in fact it was ordered and paid for, but no results exist in the file.

Under the HITECH Act and HIPPA regulations, clinicians are supposed to offer patient copies or electronic access to their medical data, which could be used to populate a PHR. But for the most part, that's being achieved through patient portals. And while portals can be convenient for patients, unless the individual gets all his or her care from one affiliated group of providers--like a Kaiser Permanente, for example--it's still unlikely that the patient information will be complete.

So, what are patients to do if they want to create and manage their own complete e-health record? Too often it requires they supplement information already available in PDFs or images of scanned documents with a mish mash of assorted information from paper records. That scattered collection of information then has to be manually entered into the e-PHR. That's a lot of work. And if the patient is elderly or suffers from a serious illness that's driving him or her to gather all the information in one place, it may be too much.

Saraki Promises Women Access to Personal Health Records

Excerpt from ThisDayLive.com:

Wife of former Kwara State governor and founder of The Wellbeing Founda-tion Africa (WBF Africa), a maternal and newborn health charity, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has promised to ensure that 5.3million women across Africa had access to personal health records by 2015.

Saraki said: “I myself lost a child and nearly died in childbirth. For this reason, I am committed to spending the last 19 years of my life, the age of my surviving child, to find a solution to halt these needless deaths.”

Speaking during an event by Every Woman Every Child, which was hosted by Ray Chambers at the Grand Hyatt, New York, Saraki said over 1,500 women have died in childbirth. She said her Foundation was determined to ensure that every African woman had a personal health record (phr), which would ensure that health information were accessed to reduce maternal and child mortality rate as well as achieve the MDG 4 and 5 targets.

She said in the next four years, the Foundation would be focusing on how to empower women to take control of their maternal health by giving every woman in Nigeria her own personal health record.

“Today, 290,000 women have records. By 2015 we want every woman in Nigeria, 5.3 million women, to have their own personal health record, 1/4 of number of women on the continent, and from there the rest of Africa. Can you imagine the number of lives this would save?