PHRs: Cogmedix Provides Medical Device Storage and Order Fulfillment Services for Telcare Medical Supply

WORCESTER, Mass., March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Continuing to meet the complex needs of medical device companies, Cogmedix, a US-based, ISO13485-certified, FDA compliant contract manufacturing and services company, will provide Massachusetts-based Telcare Medical Supply with FDA compliant storage and order fulfillment services for their Class II medical device, Telcare BGM.

Telcare's FDA and HIPAA-compliant solution, Telcare BGM, is the world's first cellular-enabled glucose meter. Paired with Telcare's back-end clinical server and a suite of smartphone applications, the Telcare BGM(TM) blood glucose meter provides a complete ecosystem of care. Telcare's FDA-cleared HIPAA-compliant server connects directly to electronic medical record systems and is accessible via a secure, online portal where users and their caregivers can monitor current and historical health information readings, set up messaging options delivered directly to the meter, adjust personalized blood glucose target zones, and print health records reports.

"Telcare will leverage the Cogmedix team's flexibility and compliance expertise, while taking advantage of the company's controlled inventory management with environmental monitoring," said David Bjork, President of Telcare Medical Systems. "Working with Cogmedix offers us the flexibility to deploy our own inventory management software at their facility, while enabling the Cogmedix team to be a seamless extension of our business management processes."

"While Cogmedix can expertly manage the entire medical device manufacturing and fulfillment process, we are also happy to partner with companies like Telcare that require a subset of our expertise for various stages of their outsourcing strategy," said Matt Giza, General Manager, Cogmedix. "Our work with Telcare demonstrates our order fulfillment capabilities, including the ability to store in appropriately segregated, monitored and controlled facilities, combined with receiving orders, and picking, packing, and shipping serialized and lot controlled inventory. Our service will help enable Telcare to focus on continued product innovation and their customer call center, while optimizing their overhead cost structure."

About Cogmedix Cogmedix is a US-based, FDA QSR compliant, ISO 13485 certified contract manufacturer for medical and clinical devices. A subsidiary of Coghlin Companies Inc., Cogmedix focuses on the production of Class I and Class II medical and clinical devices for the critical care, home healthcare, emergency room, and industrial laboratories markets. Cogmedix focuses on aligning itself with companies seeking a compliant, conscientious, cost effective, domestic manufacturing resource to assist them with volume turnkey manufacturing. For more information about Cogmedix, please visit www.cogmedix.com .

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cogmedix-provides-medical-device-storage-and-order-fulfillment-services-for-telcare-medical-supply-2012-03-15

PHR: Health IT National Coordinator Farzad Mostashari Tells Patients to Get Copies of Their Medical Records

LOS ANGELES, CA, Mar 12, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Farzad Mostashari, M.D., National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Friday, March 9th in Los Angeles, "It is time for patients to ask for copies of their electronic medical record and download them. We do it for every other aspect of our lives but healthcare." In an article in Saturday's Los Angeles Times, Mostashari also said that "patients should take matters into their own hands." MMRGlobal, Inc. MMRF +3.40% , using its patented MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record (PHR) and MMRPro document management and imaging systems for healthcare professionals, provides the only available option of its kind for patients to receive delivery of their medical records in near real time regardless of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system or any technology being deployed in the physician's office, hospital or emergency facility.

In response to the article, MMRGlobal Chairman and CEO Robert H. Lorsch said, "MyMedicalRecords meets the objective of the National Coordinator for Health IT, specifically, to get patient records in the hands of patients today. In 2009, the Federal Government passed the HITECH Act committing $27 billion to help contain costs of a healthcare system buried in paper from which very little has been accomplished. Since the creation of MyMedicalRecords, we have spent more than $20 million to create our internationally patented MMR solution that meets the national objective to get Personal Health Information into the hands of the patient without changing the workflow of a medical office. As a result, we believe that MMR represents a tremendous opportunity for healthcare professionals and investors alike with a pipeline of billions more to be invested from the government to get systems into the main stream of healthcare. The greater the success of that effort the more patients would be connected to their healthcare professionals using systems like those deployed by MMR."

MMRGlobal's products and services move medical records from any healthcare professional to the patient in seconds using a universal consumer-centric Personal Health Record. MMR services connect to the most advanced Electronic Medical Record systems in the world, or a plain old ordinary fax machine in a sole practitioner's private office. The system also allows secure sharing of patients' personal health information with all their medical providers. Regardless of the technology, the system enables medical records to be instantly deployed electronically to a patient or their physician anywhere in the world. New patient accounts can be activated in less than a minute, at a cost of pennies a day. It does not matter if a patient is being treated at the Cleveland Clinic, employing one of the most advanced EMR systems in the world, or in an office using plain paper files, completely eliminating the need for standardization.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/health-it-national-coordinator-farzad-mostashari-tells-patients-to-get-copies-of-their-medical-records-2012-03-12?reflink=MW_news_stmp

PHR: Emerging Electronic Health Information Exchange Systems Don't Meet Patient Needs

From The Sacramento Bee:

Health care  organizations need to do more to help patients realize the full benefits of electronic data from emerging health information exchange systems, according to a new study commissioned by Consumers Union  that appears in the March 2012 Health Affairs.  The study examines how well five major California health care  organizations are meeting the needs of patients and communities in the use of their electronic data and offers important lessons for the rest of the country. 

"Electronic health information exchange holds great promise for improving patient care and outcomes," said Mark Savage, senior attorney for Consumers Union, the nonprofit advocacy arm of Consumer Reports.   "Health care  organizations are making progress developing these systems but they must provide patients with greater access to their electronic medical data and the ability to monitor who is accessing this information to maximize benefits and limit potential privacy risks.  Patient and public health must be at the center of these efforts."

The study was funded by the California HealthCare Foundation  and assesses the extent to which these efforts are meeting the needs of patients and communities based on a set of principles developed by California organizations representing consumers and patients.  The independent study was carried out by Robert H. Miller, Ph.D., a health economist and faculty member atUniversity of California,  San Francisco. 

In June 2010, Consumers Union joined fifteen other organizations representing California patients and consumers to develop nine principles for electronic personal health information exchange .  The principles aim to improve patient and population health care  by increasing the availability and use of patient data while protecting patients' privacy.

The consumer principles balance patients' various needs—for example, coordinating health care and information among the patient and diverse providers in multiple organizations; ensuring the security and privacy of personal health information; designing systems that can be easily used by non-English speakers and person with disabilities; and accessing safety and quality data about providers and treatments. 

The 2009 stimulus bill  passed by Congress provided up to $27 billion in incentives for physicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health record systems.  The law also provided an additional $2 billion for activities that encourage meaningful use of electronic health information exchange.  It set a strategic goal of achieving electronic health records  for every person in the United States by 2014.

In theory, electronic health information should enable a patient's providers to share information about the patient's health status and current medications and to remind themselves about services the patient needs.  The patient should be able to review health records  via a web-based patient portal; possibly correct or add information; communicate with providers; view reminders of needed services; and access educational materials tailored to various health issues.  Despite its potential benefits, electronic information sharing  can entail risks for patients, especially loss of privacy and misuse of data. 

The Value of Electronic Health Records Extends Far Beyond Patient Care

From CNW:

Embedding and implementing Privacy by Design (PbD) into electronic health record (EHR) systems being built across Canada will enable us to benefit from the wealth of health information stored on these systems, while protecting patient privacy, according to a new paper released today at the Toronto Board of Trade.

"By incorporating the principles of Privacy by Design into the EHR environment, you can accommodate both individual privacy and access to health information for purposes that benefit society as a whole, such as research purposes — a win-win scenario," said Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

The paper, entitled Embedding Privacy Into the Design of Electronic Health Records to Enable Multiple Functionalities - Win/Win  is co-authored by Dr. Ann Cavoukian, and Richard C. Alvarez, President & CEO, Canada Health Infoway. Itargues that the current practice of using health information for a range of authorized purposes should continue in  the PHR environment, but that this must be done in a way that respects individual rights to privacy while benefitting the health system for all Canadians.

"In addition to their value in direct patient care, information from electronic health records can be used to strengthen public health and other health care decisions," said  Alvarez. "When privacy is considered and built in at the outset, it is possible to imagine having accurate population-based information to help predict and prevent waves of infectious disease, to evaluate the safety of different medicines, or to proactively manage diabetes and other chronic conditions."

The paper emphasizes that the use of health information management for purposes that go beyond the direct care of a person, such as research and health system planning, is not a new undertaking.  It has long been used for such purposes with safeguards in place to protect the privacy of Canadians, including privacy legislation and policies, as well as privacy oversight bodies to monitor compliance.

The paper describes how EHRs will make it easier, faster and less expensive to leverage health information for a range of these types of enormously beneficial purposes.  While privacy challenges may arise, the paper describes some tools and guidance available to help resolve those challenges, such as the principles of Privacy by Design , theInfoway-sponsored paper Privacy and EHR Information  Flows in Canada:  Common Understandings of   the Pan-Canadian Health Information Privacy Group , and the practice of routine de-identification of information as a key first step in reducing any associated privacy risks.

"The default approach should be that information is strongly de-identified when used for purposes that extend beyond the delivery of healthcare," said Commissioner Cavoukian.

MMRGlobal Brings Retail Prepaid Personal Health Record Card to Healthcare Professionals

From Market Watch:

MMRGlobal, Inc. a leading provider of Personal Health Records (PHRs) and electronic document management and imaging systems for healthcare professionals, will begin offering personalized Prepaid Personal Health Record cards for physicians and hospitals. The Company made the announcement at the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference (HIMSS12) in Las Vegas, where MMRGlobal will be demonstrating its patented health IT products and services including its MyMedicalRecords PHR in Booth #2062 today through February 23 at the Venetian Sands Expo Center. Instead of leaving the doctor's office with an appointment reminder card, healthcare professionals can now hand out a Personal Health Record access card which gives their patients the ability to create and manage a comprehensive online Personal Health Record. The system also includes a document management system, a MyEsafeDepositBox, the ability to send records by outbound fax, prescription drug database and the ability to generate appointment and prescription reminders. Additionally, the cards can be custom designed so that hospitals and medical offices can use them as a cost-effective incentive to patients and outpatients to better manage their health and reinforce where they receive their care.

The prepaid PHR card is actually a physician's business card with a purpose. By placing access to a full-featured PHR at the point of care, the cards call attention to the importance of having a Personal Health Record which can improve care, reduce costs and even make the difference in saving a patient's life. The government is spending billions of dollars on incentives to doctors and hospitals implementing health IT systems and has only more recently been launching campaigns directed at creating awareness of the value of Personal Health Records aimed at consumers. The prepaid card is something familiar to patients; it means value and represents the opportunity to place something in their hand as a conduit to building a PHR. The cards also reinforce government initiatives engaging patients to be more aware of what is going on with their health and their family's health and ultimately reducing medical costs by eliminating duplicate testing.

"Healthcare professionals are not known for their marketing yet marketing is of vital importance to any healthcare organization. Our concept converts a doctor's business card to a potentially lifesaving PHR that educates users and generates revenue through our built-in Stimulus Program while reducing costs of responding to patient requests for medical records," said Robert H. Lorsch, Chairman and CEO of MMRGlobal. "We also plan on making this health information program available to drug companies, labs and other healthcare organizations marketing to doctors. This way the suppliers provide a service to the physicians and their patients that can potentially saves lives."

The MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record is an easy and secure way for patients to store, retrieve and share medical records from all their doctors and maintain other important documents, such as insurance policies and powers-of-attorney, in one secure, central location. Built on proprietary, patented technologies, every MyMedicalRecords account includes a personal "Lifeline" telephone number that can be used by all of one's doctors and healthcare providers to fax in medical records, which are then automatically viewable in the user's password-protected online account. The Lifeline number can also be used for outbound faxing at no additional charge and for recording and storing voice messages. Users can also upload and download documents and medical images directly from their computer. Each MyMedicalRecords account features a separate Emergency Login for medical personnel to access potentially lifesaving information while protecting all other data in an user's account from view. Each account covers a family of up to 10 members and is bilingual in English and Spanish, with additional languages being added.

Medical tattoos offer important health information

From WPSD Local 6 News:

Tattoos have long served as fashion statements, but a small number of Americans are now relying on them for a more practical, potentially lifesaving purpose: to warn first responders about important medical conditions.

Some medical tattoos are being used to take the place of bracelets that commonly list a person's allergies, chronic diseases or even end-of-life wishes.

"Bracelets are nice, but something as strong as a tattoo ... that is a strong statement," said Dr. Ed Friedlander, a Kansas City pathologist who has "No CPR" tattooed in the center of his chest, where a paramedic would see it.

Friedlander, 60, got the tattoo to emphasize his decision to forgo CPR if his heart stops.

Medical tattoos don't appear to carry much legal weight. It's unclear whether an ambulance crew racing to treat a gravely ill patient could honor a request such as Friedlander's based on the tattoo alone.

But the markings do offer a simple and permanent way to give rescuers important health details.

Melissa Boyer, of Nashville, Mich., wore bracelets for years to identify her as a diabetic, but she kept losing or breaking them. The 31-year-old decided months ago to get a personal health information 3 1/2-inch tattoo on her left forearm that includes the medical symbol and identifies her as a Type 1 diabetic. It also declares her allergies to penicillin and aspirin her vital medical history.

"It's been 29 years that I've had (diabetes), and I went through I-don't-know-how-many medical records bracelets," she said. "I went and got the tattoo, and it made life easier."

The American Medical Association does not specifically address medical tattoos in its guidelines. But Dr. Saleh Aldasouqi, an endocrinologist at Michigan State University, hopes that might change.

Aldasouqi, who has written about the tattoos, has seen them among his diabetic patients and feels they are becoming so popular that the medical profession needs to help guide their development.

"My intention has been to bring this issue to the surface so that medical organizations can have a say in that," he said. "When you just Google it, you're going to find hundreds of stories and discussions, but no medical say. So I feel we leave our patients kind of afloat."

It would be helpful, for instance, if the tattoos were uniform or placed in the same area of the body so responders would know where to look, he said.

"My perspective is that we as physicians need to be involved in this," he added.

Aldasouqi does not advocate for or against the tattoos, but he says patients and doctors should discuss the idea beforehand.

If one of his diabetic patients sought a tattoo, Aldasouqi would recommend using a licensed tattoo artist and carefully controlling blood sugar during the procedure.

The National Tattoo Association, a nonprofit that raises awareness about tattooing, does not track the numbers or styles of tattoos. Sailor Bill Johnson, a spokesman for the association, said he does about one medical tattoo a year at his shop in Orlando, Fla.

"Nine times out of 10, it's either allergic to something, penicillin or peanuts," he said.

PHR: NIST to test EHR usability

From Fierce EMR:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has decided to tackle the problem of poor electronic health record usability, asking EHR vendors to share their products with the agency so it can research how they work, according to an iHealthBeat report .

According to NIST's Federal Register notice , the agency plans to conduct research designed to develop a set of guidelines/standards for usability of EHRs and develop a framework for assessing their "performance oriented" usability. NIST also may examine the EHR health information systems' relevant instructions, documentation and error messages. It will release its findings in a report.

NIST estimates that it will take a year to conduct the research, and vendors can't make modifications to products being researched during that time. The agency does assure vendors that it will keep the PHRs protected, applying the same high security measures in place in its main headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., even if testing is performed off-site. NIST will not accept personal health information for this project. It will report any usability problems to the vendor.

This is not the first time that NIST, which has a keen interest in EHRs, has expressed concern about EHRs' usability. In a 108-page report  released last fall, NIST noted that EHR usability was "critical" but that EHRs were harder to use than they should be. The report called for further studies to assess the problem and recommended that a usability protocol be developed for the medical history products.

Health Records: Microsoft starts Caradigm for health care tech

Say what you will about Microsoft, the company sure has some incredible resolve.

Last week, Microsoft and General Electric revealed that Caradigm will be the name of their health records care joint venture. The new company should come to life sometime in the first half of this year, employing about 750 people in the Seattle area.

Caradigm will take a stab at modernizing health care through applications that help hospitals, doctors and patients manage personal health records and the information pouring in from various machines and databases. The general idea is to give health care providers a way to see tons of information with one login and to start gathering huge amounts of information in a way that could illuminate insights about patients.

If you're like most people, you have no idea that Microsoft has been banging away at health care technology for quite a few years. It has the HealthVault Web service that lets people store their prescriptions, health records and other personal data.

Amalga for providers

The company has also offered a medical records software and service package called Amalga to health care providers, allowing them to see a patient's X-rays, lab results, MRI scans and similar records in one spot. Amalga met with a cool reception and sort of fizzled out, but it will be brought back to life through Caradigm, which has a more comprehensive set of products for the health care industry.

As ever, Microsoft proves willing to keep charging after areas it views as hard and important no matter how long they take to bring to fruition. In that respect, the company seems to operate like a planned economy, setting five-year and even 10-year agendas. Much of the impetus for this approach comes from chief executive Steve Ballmer, who is determined to diversify 

Microsoft's product line, no matter the cost.

"We better keep moving," he said in a recent interview. "There's just more to do from an applications innovation perspective."

What adds some measure of intrigue to Microsoft's continued push into health care technology is that its main rival, Google, has moved away from such technology. When Larry Page took over as Google's CEO last year, he cut a number of projects, including Google Health, a rival to Microsoft's HealthVault introduced in 2008. In an unusual move, Google urged its customers to move their data to Microsoft's service.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/19/BUGD1N80GN.DTL#ixzz1my0F7pTY

PHR Provider ZweenaHealth.com Featured in IT Blog DigitalOlympus.com Health Technology Article

Personal health record (PHR) provider ZweenaHealth.com was recently featured in an article on the IT blog DigitalOlympus.com about the challenges facing healthcare consumers in the US who may have to change providers frequently and are unable to track their medical histories. It also showed how Zweena presents a safe, workable and trusted solution to this problem. Zweena LLC is a provider of online PHR and health information technology services that assembles patient medical records directly from doctor's offices, organizes and digitizes them to create an electronic health record that provides updated health information that is safe, actionable, and easy to understand, manage and share.

The DigitalOlympus.com IT blog article on how Zweena aggregates user medical records showed how one of the biggest challenges facing consumers when it comes to their health is the ability to manage, consolidate and track their medical history.

It also explored the dilemma of how every time patients change a healthcare provider, they need to somehow reproduce their medical records for the new provider, and yet maintain their privacy – a situation exacerbated by an increasingly mobile population.

The article then went on to highlight Zweena (http://www.zweenahealth.com), an online Personal Health Record (PHR) service for consumers to manage and protect their health records, as a trusted, safe and practical solution that is increasing in its recognition and adoption nationwide.

"Zweena is essentially a digital medical records aggregator that takes care of everything; from collecting paper records, to translating through the jargon, to securely storing it all online. Customers no longer have to dig through filing cabinets or call up all the doctors they’ve seen over the years. It’s all online, secured, and easy to manage and access," says the article.

"Medical records form the overall health picture. Being an empowered medical consumer starts with having access to this vital data,” says Zweena CEO John Phelan.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/590118#ixzz1mgMpPMBk

Health record snoop viewed 120 patients' files, CDHA says

From The Hants Journal:

The Capital District Health Authority is in the process of advising 120 patients that their medical records files were viewed by a former Hants Community Hospital employee without authorization.

A Feb. 14 press release issued by Capital Health explains that the authority learned of the privacy breaches through "an extensive audit of the activities of this individual."

Capital Health spokesperson John Gillis says an investigation into the former employee's actions began in the fall, after co-workers raised concerns. Initial investigations found that the health information worker, who served at the Hants Community Hospital, QEII in Halifax and Cobequid Community Health Centre, accessed the confidential health records of 15 patients.

Gillis says the health information management board has continued to look into the matter and recently learned that 120 patient files were accessed over a six-year period starting in 2005. Capital Health mailed letters out to the patients this week to notify them of this discovery.

"They can contact our privacy officer to learn more about the particulars of what's been accessed in their case and if there's support that people require, whether it be emotional support in dealing with stress or what have you, we can help direct them," he said, speaking of the letter recipients.

Gillis confirmed that some health records were viewed at the Hants Community Hospital, but he could not specify how many of the patients affected by this privacy breach live in Hants County.

He said Capital Health has looked into taking legal action.

"We've investigated the possibilities and the advice we have is there isn't a way to lay charges under the legislation that exists," Gillis said.

"Our understanding is there is not a criminal offense that's occurred the way the legislation exists."

Gillis says this type of breach in patient confidentiality is extremely rare, and the health district's 400,000 patients can rest assured the guilty party is no longer with the health authority.

Capital Health is implementing Fairwarning software to enhance the process through which audits are conducted.

MMRGlobal Invites HIMSS Attendees to Make Millions in Stimulus Monies and a Chance to Win With the Bob Lorsch "Win a Million System"

MMRGlobal, Inc} a leading provider of Personal Health Records (PHRs) and electronic document management and imaging systems for healthcare professionals, today announced it will kick off Phase 2 of the Company's MMR Stimulus Program to healthcare professionals at HIMSS in Las Vegas next week, February 20-24, to demonstrate how using its MMRPro system can make millions for doctors, hospitals and other healthcare professionals through patient upgrades on the MMRPatientView portal to a full-featured MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record for a family of 10 including pets. The new program enables hospitals using selected EMR systems that do not use MMRPro to integrate MMRPatientView and participate in the Stimulus Program. The U.S. government is mandating that 90% of all patients be able to receive a copy of their personal health information electronically by 2014. MMR will demonstrate how it is ready to deliver that requirement today well in advance of 2014. To make sure attendees at the show get the message, MMR will also host a daily champagne bar in Booth #2062 to celebrate 2014 today.

Also participating with MMR in Booth #2062 will be MMR strategic partner UST Global, Jacques Blandin, Chairman and Founder of VisiInc, PLC in Australia, and Luo Jianhui, Vice President and Chairman of Unisoft Group, Unis-Tonghe Technology (Zhengzhou) Co., Ltd, MMR's joint venture partner in China. Additionally, there will be demonstrations of MMR services technology from Alcatel-Lucent's connected hospital telemedicine systems, 4medica and Interbit Data.

The Company will also call attention to its MMRPro suite of professional document management and imaging systems powered by Kodak and Fujitsu scanning solutions. Using the MMRPro system in conjunction with the MMR Stimulus Program, hospitals and physician groups can receive hundreds of thousands of dollars per year from patient upgrades through MMRPatientView. At the same time, healthcare professionals can also comply with meaningful use requirements to provide patients with timely electronic access to their personal health information with MMR and get paid MMR Stimulus Program monies with most EMR systems in use and even if they do not accept Medicare or Medicaid.

Medical Records: MMRGlobal Goes Into 2012 Highlighting $43 Million in Projected Revenues From Existing Signed Agreements

From MarketWatch:

MMRGlobal, Inc. MMRF -9.77% ("MMR"), a leading provider of Personal Health Records ("PHR"), MyEsafeDepositBox storage solutions and electronic document management and imaging systems for healthcare professionals, today announced that going into the upcoming HIMSS Conference and Exhibition, February 20-24, in Las Vegas ( www.himssconference.org ), it has entered into agreements for more than $43 million based on licensing and strategic partnerships pertaining to the Company's biotech and health information technology intellectual property, all of which are specifically described in, and or attached to, MMRGlobal's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Since the Company's inception, it has invested more than $152 million on biotech and health IT-related Research and Development projects and currently has more than 40 patents issued, pending and or applied for worldwide, including patents pertaining to the Company's FavId(R)/Specifid(TM) vaccine trials and anti-CD20 antibody assets, the second widely believed to be a first cousin to Rituximab. Additionally, MMR's Method and System for Providing Online Medical Records patents were recently valued in a range from $300 million to as much as $800 million ( http://michaelbass.com/PDF/JAN20MMRF.pdf ). The Company also owns other biotech assets including thousands of patient tumor samples believed to be worth additional millions.

"Although the Company's primary business remains the offering of its MyMedicalRecords.com Personal Health Record and MMRPro professional document imaging and scanning solutions, the value of our intellectual property is growing," said Robert H. Lorsch, MMRGlobal Chairman and CEO. "Clearly, as we move into the future, we will seek opportunities to leverage our intellectual property and enter into agreements with strategic partners in patient care and other similar lines of business as well as with companies that specialize in maximizing the value of IP, such as Acacia Research or RPX Corporation and others who have successfully leveraged the values of intellectual property into billions of dollars of valuation for shareholders.

PHR: Verizon, Health Evolution Partners To Promote Health IT

From Information Week:

Verizon Enterprise Solutions has struck a strategic relationship with Health Evolution Partners (HEP), an investment firm that will promote Verizon technologies such as its cloud computing, mobile connectivity, and software services to healthcare companies and provider organizations that HEP invests in.

Under the multiyear agreement announced Monday, HEP and Verizon Connected Healthcare Solutions, the company's health IT practice group, will identify health companies that can accelerate their growth strategy by adopting Verizon's technologies to support clinical workflow, data management, and the use of mobile devices to coordinate patient care and personal health information.

"We have almost 100 companies and a very large share of them--whether they are life science companies, health IT companies, or companies that deliver healthcare services--are all data-driven firms," David Brailer, chairman of Health Evolution Partners, told InformationWeek Healthcare.

[ Is it time to re-engineer your clinical decision support system? See 10 Innovative Clinical Decision Support Programs. ]

Brailer said these healthcare companies are fast-growing firms with $50 million to $200 million worth of revenue, and many of them have to grapple with managing more data as well as support a mobile workforce that is coordinating patient care at remote locations.

"It's not just that they need a smartphone or a tablet--that's easy. It is that they need an information architecture so that they can log on, people can know who they are, get access to the data they need without filling out a lot of paper forms--it's a whole different architecture," Brailer said.

As the pace of electronic health record (EHR) adoption and digitized medical images continues at a fast clip, many of these firms are depending on mobile connectivity, information access, software services, and other technology that Verizon already has developed.

According to Brailer, the partnership with Verizon will enable these companies to have greater access to broadband networks, video-based technologies, and wireless devices that incorporate geo-location capabilities and sensors that are changing the way health organizations deliver care.

"To us, this partnership makes perfect sense. We've joined with a batch of leading-edge new companies across a whole spectrum of healthcare that can apply a lot of different PHR technologies and medical records software services," Dr. Peter Tippett, vice president and chief medical officer, Verizon Connected Healthcare Solutions, toldInformationWeek Healthcare. "We've been building a lot of technologies to help enable the healthcare ecosystem that we think will transform the whole healthcare industry, but to do this we need to be partnered with companies like the ones Health Evolution Partners are invested in."

Health Evolution Partners has investments in providers and companies operating in several sectors of the healthcare industry, including:

-- Healthcare providers and payers, and companies that provide services to these two groups. This includes ambulatory care providers, clinical and administrative facility services, managed care services, and consumer-driven healthcare firms.

-- Health IT companies that help improve care delivery, financial management, consumer engagement or research, and discovery. These companies provide technology in a variety of areas including cloud computing, enterprise solutions, digital media, online services, process automation, revenue cycle management, and network transactions within the healthcare industry.

PHR: Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare

From Department of Health:

The Department has published a discussion paper which explores personal health budgets for people receiving NHS Continuing Healthcare. This is aimed towards healthcare professionals who will have a specific role in this initiative or are considering the future implementation of personal health budgets. Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare is the first of a number of informative documents on the subject.

Personal health records budgets are currently being piloted in the NHS in England, with over 2,700 participants across 20 sites. A number of sites are piloting personal health budgets with people eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare. In October 2011, the Secretary of State for Health announced that subject to the evaluation, by April 2014 everyone in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare will have a right to ask for a personal health budget, including a direct payment. This will form part of a broader rollout of personal health budgets to people with long term health conditions.

A personal health information budget is an amount of money that is allocated to an individual to allow them to meet their health and well-being needs in a way that best suits them. At the heart of a personal health budget is a care plan which sets out the individual’s health (and social care) needs and includes the desired outcomes, the amount of money in the budget and how this will be spent. The care plan has to be agreed between the individual and the professional, before being checked and signed off by the NHS.

Personal health information technology budgets potentially offer greater integration of health and social care for both individuals who need care and their carers, and better partnership working between the NHS and local authorities. Personal health budgets and NHS Continuing Healthcare provides more information about the recent Government announcement and how these budgets are relevant to people receiving NHS Continuing Healthcare and how personal medical records budgets change the NHS Continuing Healthcare pathway.