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AllScripts Joins Walgreens In Providing More Electronic Medical Record Data for Sale for Payers and Researchers With Another Analytics Firm
It’s amazing these days that whenever you employ a service on the front side that is marketed to benefit you, there’s always the action taking place on the back side that you may or may not be aware of and it appears that what we have here with Inovalon, the old one-two punch to create revenue streams with more data for sale.
This is like a virus out there as I have said many times with the data selling epidemic we have taking place. There are some very intelligent people out there who have figured out how to make money and profit using different “value” tactics to provide a service that contains value on the front end and then makes money on the back side with selling data. Here’s the recent Walgreens press release as they have medical records in their clinics and now also are making that information available to pharmacists.
United Healthcare with their technologies already has foot in their door in a big way way well with being able to use the medical records from the Mayo clinic to analyze and sell the queried data to researchers and other folks who might have an interest in de-identified data. One of their focuses is to sell analytics relative to how medical devices perform and which are the top selected by hospitals and so on. They also have a non profit “lab” company wrapped around the ability to also market data.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/09/allscripts-joins-walgreens-in-providing.html#more
Morning aacciaio, I was just wondering what you consider a huge trade?
Morning Daveyo, well I hope your right. I have been in this stock for some time & even purchased a little more Friday. But many sites like that & I am not saying that is one... companies pay for the hype or acknowledgement. A lot like MoneyTV. You have a good weekend & stay safe.
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the Yahoo article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the Yahoo article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the Yahoo article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the Yahoo article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
Hello 3F, why didn't you post the article posted Sept. 9th on the board? Have a good weekend & stay safe! Bone
what is your reasoning for think this?
Most US Hospitals Are Ready For Meaningful Use Stage 2
Sep 19, 2013 07:30 am | By: Anne Zieger
So, it looks like most US hospitals are prepared for Meaningful Use Stage 2. New data from HIMSS suggests that approximately 68 percent of US hospitals have purchased technology from a software vendor that has been certified to the 2014 Edition certification criteria, according to Healthcare IT News.
The HIMSS report, Hospital Readiness to Meet Meaningful Use Stage 2, was released this week during National Health IT Week in Washington, D.C.
Researchers found that at least 60 percent of hospitals in their sample had met requirements for at least nine of the core metrics that define Stage 2 Meaningful Use. They also found that roughly 70 percent of respondents are actively moving toward meeting stage two meaningful use requirements across all metrics, Healthcare IT News reports.
These latest findings from HIMSS fit well with other data from previous reports done by the organization. The 24th Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey, which was released this February, found that 75 percent of respondents expected their organization to qualify for Stage 2 incentives in 2014.
Things aren’t nearly so rosy, however, when it comes to Stage 2 compliance for physicians. Several trade groups have written to HHS asking the agency to postpone or even put on hold the requirements of Stage 2. In August, for example, the MGMA wrote a letter to HHS asking the agency to put Stage 2 requirements on an indefinite moratorium for practices that have successfully nailed Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements.
The MGMA argues that it’s unfair to expect medical practices to comply with Stage 2 Meaningful Use as of yet, given that at present there are only 75 products and 21 complete EMRs for ambulatory care which are currently certified for Stage 2 criteria. As I see it, they have an excellent point.
This is an untenable situation. It’s all well and good that hospitals are approaching Stage 2 readiness, but if ambulatory care is being left behind, Meaningful Use Stage 2 can’t be said to be accomplishing its true purpose. I believe HHS will grant the request of MGMA and other groups like it – and ease Stage 2 deadlines for ambulatory care providers – or it risks creating a digital divide between hospitals and medical practices which does no one any good.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2013/09/19/most-us-hospitals-are-ready-for-meaningful-use-stage-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HospitalEMRandEHR+%28Hospital+EMR+and+EHR%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
I think most of us know Dr. Farzad Mostashari & his support for Meaningful Use Stage 2. He has written & spoke numerous times over the last few years regarding it. This is from a recent tweet he made.
Judy Faulkner Interoperability Chart
Farzad Mostashari shared the following tweet which includes a picture of the growth in standards-based exchange per Judy Faulkner.
Judy Faulkner shares data on growth in standards-based exchange- now up to 1.25m/mo, w growing # x-vendor #HITpolicy pic.twitter.com/Xt1qtkf86k
— Farzad Mostashari (@Farzad_ONC) September 4, 2013
Here’s a blown up version of the chart:
As Farzad notes in the tweet, the patient records exchanged per month is now up to 1.25 million. It’s also worth noting that the red bar in the chart is exchange of records from Epic to Epic. The Green bar in the charts is from Epic to Non-Epic. I hope that green bar continues to grow since as the chart displays, that’s a definite shift in strategy for Epic. Let’s hope this shift continues until the data in healthcare is available where it’s needed when it’s needed.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2013/09/18/judy-faulkner-interoperability-chart/
Patients Willing to Switch Doctors to Access EHRs
By Brian T. Horowitz | Posted 2013-09-18
Controlling their own health records is important to patients, and 41 percent say they would be willing to seek a new provider to access them, according to an Accenture report.
A lack of access to their own electronic health records (EHRs) could lead many patients to switch doctors, IT consulting firm Accenture has revealed.
In fact, 41 percent of patients would sign up with a new doctor to be able to access their own EHRs when their current provider doesn't offer this capability, according to a Sept. 16 Accenture report "U.S. Research Findings Consumer Health Survey."
This data shows that "a meaningful number of patients think this is a pretty important thing to make a decision about who their doctor is," Dr. Kaveh Safavi, managing director of Accenture's North America health business, told eWEEK
In the United States about 36 percent have access to an EHR maintained by their doctor, but more than 57 percent can track their health on their own. Of these respondents, 37 percent can track their health history, 34 percent can monitor their physical activity and 33 percent watch health indicators such as blood pressure and weight.
Providing patients with the ability to collaborate as part of a recordkeeping process allows them to have a better understanding of their conditions and boost their motivation to stay healthy, according to Safavi.
Doctors and patients have strong disagreement on the level of EHR access patients should have, Safavi said.
About 84 percent of consumers believed they should have full access their EHRs, but only 36 percent of physicians agreed. A majority of U.S. doctors, or 65 percent, believe patients should have limited access their EHRs and 63 percent actually do.
"The record has been the property of the doctor," Safavi said. "For a variety of reasons having to do with health care and consumer empowerment, all of these things converge. You are seeing a disconnect."
To keep patients for the long term, doctors will need to provide them with the access to clinical information they're looking for, he said.
Under Stage 2 of the federal government's meaningful-use program, doctors must provide a patient with access to their clinical information, Safavi noted. While Stage 1 is about physician adoption of EHRs, "Stage 2 is more about patient engagement," he said. "Patient engagement includes the ability to see their own information—something the patient can look at," he said.
The meaningful-use mandates are part of a trend toward self-care for patients as the EHR transitions to a shared decision-making tool for patients and doctors, Safavi explained.
For the survey, Accenture interviewed 9,015 adults 18 and over in July from nine countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, German, Singapore, Spain and the United States. Harris Interactive fielded answers from respondents, and Accenture aggregated the survey data.
Of patients interviewed, 48 percent believed access to EHRs was very important. In addition, 77 percent viewed booking appointments online as important and 76 percent recognized a need to refill prescriptions electronically.
Currently, 48 percent of patients have the ability to refill prescription requests, 43 percent can request appointments and 36 percent can email with providers, the report stated.
Meanwhile, physicians are ramping up their own use of EHRs and e-prescribing compared with other countries, a May 9 Accenture report revealed. They increased their "routine" use of health IT for tasks such as e-prescribing and data entry in EHRs by 32 percent, compared with 15 percent of doctors in other countries.
http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/patients-willing-to-switch-doctors-to-access-ehrs-accenture-report.html/
I know this is late but I am sure can watch a recording if interested.
CMS hosts Sept. 17 webinar on EHR Incentive Programs
Author Name Jennifer Bresnick | Date September 13, 2013 | Tagged CMS, EHR Adoption, EHR Incentive Programs, Meaningful Use, Stage 2 Meaningful Use
Join CMS on September 17 at 12:00 Eastern time for a National Health IT Week webinar on the fundamentals of the EHR Incentive Programs. Topics will include basic participation requirements, eligibility, key program deadlines, and a discussion of upcoming features of Stage 2.
CMS experts will take questions from the audience during the presentation. To register for this event, visit the signup page here. Space is limited for this presentation.
Related White Papers:
Improving the ROI of Your EHR: 3 Keys for Success
Meaningful Use – Now or Never!
6 Secrets of Smart EHR Buyers
Guide to Meaningful Use Demonstration
White Paper: Achieving Stage 2 Meaningful Use in Private Practice
Related Articles:
EHR Incentive Program tops $15.5B in meaningful use payments
CMS: Meaningful use grows to nearly 300,000 EHR users
AHA urges CMS, ONC to avoid additional HIE requirements
EHR adoption, use among ambulatory care providers
Minnesota tops Surescripts rankings for eRx
http://ehrintelligence.com/2013/09/13/cms-hosts-sept-17-webinar-on-ehr-incentive-programs/
I did not see your last response to me it must have been deleted but my email address for Ihub board is twelsch1960@yahoo.com if you want to send it to me directly
You are so right, check this out
Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?
By Michael Snyder, on September 3rd, 2013
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/is-the-united-states-going-to-go-to-war-with-syria-over-a-natural-gas-pipeline
send me your email address
Well please post the letter you wrote to XsunX & the reply you received & from who. I have been in this stock for 3 to 4 years & I still do not see it going anywhere but down, down, down.
What is news is exciting? Please furnish a hyperlink to what you are quoting. I see no progress.
Patient’s Take On Making Hospital IT Patient-Friendly
Sep 04, 2013 08:22 am | By: Anne Zieger
Today I was talking with my mother about her experiences with hospitals and IT. My mother, you should know, is so computer averse that she won’t send or receive e-mails — she leaves that to Dad. But despite her fear of home computing, she’s got some interesting opinions about how hospitals should use health IT to involve patients in the care process:
* If possible, she suggests, hospitals should assess a patient’s “electronic IQ” to see how comfortable they are with using technology. I liked this because it could apply not only to in-hospital info sharing but also the patient’s ability to participate in remote monitoring or other mHealth modalities.
*Give patients access to a schedule (via an app on a tablet, perhaps) which tells them when various tests, procedures and clinician visits are likely to happen. This not only calms the patient, it helps keep the family in synch with the patient’s routine, she notes.
* Display results of key tests — or if clinicians are concerned that patients won’t understand them, at least register when the results have been received, so patients know their care process is progressing. She’d be happy with a note that said: “Dr. X will be in to discuss the results of your CT scan shortly.”
* Allow the patient and their family/caregivers to make notes within the system of what they want to discuss with clinicians. Otherwise, as she rightly points out, they’re likely to forget what they wanted to say when the nurse or doctor swoops into the room with their own agenda.
Actually, my mother’s vision is already largely in place in at least one facility. As I reported last year, the Mayo Clinic has already begun a program using content- and app-loaded iPads to move the patient through their inpatient stay. Not only does the Mayo implementation do everything on my mother’s wish list, it also allows patients to report on pain levels and exchange messages with doctors.
Let’s hope more hospitals find a way to use IT to make the care process more transparent for patients. While it calls for a not-inconsiderable investment in time and resources, it seems like an excellent way to keep patients engaged in their care.
http://www.hospitalemrandehr.com/2013/09/04/patients-take-on-making-hospital-it-patient-friendly/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HospitalEMRandEHR+%28Hospital+EMR+and+EHR%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
It's a very good post EZ2. I know a month or so ago I got you mixed up with 3F. Regarding my post about the Missouri Attorney General filing suit against Walgreens. Notice the AD in the top right hand corner of your computer.
Walgreens Accused of Overcharging Customers-Algorithms-Drug Stores Have to Pay Penalties on Their Issues, Why Does Wall Street Skate When Their Killer Algorithms Attack?
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2013/08/walgreens-accused-of-overcharging.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FPHZF+%28The+Medical+Quack%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail
We still have 360 to 370 board members. Wish new blood would come. Kinda means all the same ol'BS is just that... BS
From MMRGlobal's FB page. Posted 41 minutes ago!
Patent Information update on MMRGlobal in Japan
MMRGlobal Completes Filing of Additional Cancer Fighting Patent in Japan to Pursue Additional Antibody Protection
This filing is in addition to an existing pending application in Japan. As announced earlier this week, in furtherance to antibody patents granted patents in the U.S., Australia and Mexico, an additional patent application was also recently filed in China under the Patent Prosecution Highway Program to expedite the issuance of patents to MMR for its anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in the U.S.
CMS to Host Webinar on Meaningful Use Stage 2
Written by Helen Gregg | August 21, 2013
CMS will host a webinar Aug. 27 to help hospitals prepare for meaningful use stage 2.
The webinar will cover 2014 clinical quality measures, stage 2 deadlines and answer participant questions.
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/cms-to-host-webinar-on-meaningful-use-stage-2.html
More Articles on Meaningful Use Stage 2:
HIMSS: Launch MU2 on Time, But Increase Attestation Period
Why Critical Access Hospitals in New Hampshire Have an Easier Path to MU2
Blue Button's Increasing Role in Patient Engagement
CHIME Time: Patient empowerment as a strategy for engagement in rural facilities
By Anna Turman
Posted: August 20, 2013 - 2:30 pm ET
Getting patients more involved in taking responsibility for their health is the current quandary for providers. In most healthcare reform scenarios, patient engagement is seen as the key to success. How to achieve it seems mysterious, and most believe that the “unknown” can be solved by applying some kind of universal solutions to all healthcare organizations.
The road to patient engagement will be paved differently in rural healthcare settings. Small provider organizations in rural areas serve as vital healthcare links to residents in their areas. Reaching and engaging these residents will be fundamentally different than in more populated areas of the country.
To give a sense of this differentiation, I want to briefly describe my facility, the scope of services it provides and the residents it serves. There is rural and then there is rural, and Chadron Community Hospital and Health Services is as rural as it gets. It's a 25-bed not-for-profit critical-access hospital. It's a basic trauma facility in the panhandle of Nebraska, 350 miles away from Lincoln, 100 miles away from the nearest referral hospital and more than 50 miles from the nearest critical access hospital.
However, you can't define Chadron Community based on isolation or the small number of inpatient beds. It provides 67 services, including dialysis, hospice and home health (nurses travel as much as 75 miles to treat patients in the several counties that we serve). Twenty of those 67 services are community health programs, such as family planning, WIC and Ryan White just to name a few. Chadron Community provides many specialty clinics to allow better access to specialists, and it uses teletrauma, teledialysis and telehealth for mental health care, saving patients and providers time and travel.
In rural areas, these services and nearby access to care are critical to residents, who count on rural facilities to provide important basic care and stabilize patients who need transfers to referral facilities. It's this access that is crucial, and the issue is not whether we continue to provide care, but how we provide it with the greatest impact. Rural hospitals battle sparse resources and shrinking populations while still providing primary health care for patients who often are elderly, poor or uninsured.
In this context, reaching and impacting patients is not a new challenge for rural hospitals, but it will represent a challenge that's different than that faced by larger healthcare organizations.
Some aspects of patient engagement strategies at rural facilities may be similar to those employed elsewhere. These strategies can range from providing patients with personal health records or giving them access to patient portals. Other strategies can include offering smartphone apps or using text messaging to communicate with patients about their healthcare needs. Social media may provide endless possibilities and potential to reach patients as well.
But because of limited resources, rural facilities will have to choose wisely. There is not much room for a not-for-profit rural critical access hospital to select the wrong technology or pick the wrong patient engagement approach. Therefore, we need to be clear on the goal of implementing technology to fit our goals. The risk of error grows when rural facilities get it backward by creating goals that match up with existing or popular technology.
Most importantly, technology aside, rural providers need to make sure they are addressing the rural patient in the technology equation. Any other focus is a recipe for failure, if not disaster.
Rural organizations have moved forward with technology by identifying provider champions and clinical champions. The next challenge is identifying patient champions who can help us with technology and speak to our communities about the benefits. Strong patient champions will be the key to influence other patients' involvement in managing their care, and help us with spanning any potential gaps that exist in patient buy-in.
We can gain adoption, and engage patients, by doing what rural organizations do best—emphasizing the type of communication that exemplifies small communities. Rural organizations want patients to have a positive experience in accessing their records and becoming engaged in their care—ultimately, they need to experience improved outcomes as a result of becoming engaged and more directly managing their health.
It's our patients—not the latest and greatest technology—that needs to be the focus of our efforts to engage them with healthcare IT. We need to capitalize on patients by empowering them.
Anna Turman
CIO and COO
Chadron (Neb.) Community Hospital and Health System
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130820/NEWS/308209951?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWGJYUDhCRWxiNUtpQzMyWmVqNVh3WUpibWc=&utm_source=link-20130820-NEWS-308209951&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits#
Defuser, you are not the Lone Ranger. I bought in over 2 years ago & haven't really seen any advancement.
Carle expands online medical records system
Sat, 08/17/2013 - 7:00am | Debra Pressey
URBANA — Carle Foundation Hospital and Physician Group have added two new features to their electronic medical records system and hope to boost the number of patients using it.
Patients were already able to access their lab results and other pieces of their own medical information through the secure system, called MyCarle. Now they can also use the system to pay their bills and make appointment requests, according to Dr. William Schuh, the Carle Foundation's chief medical information officer.
As of this month, 29,000 Carle patients — about 13 percent — are using the system, Schuh said.
But the more people having more access to their medical information the better, he says.
"They'll be more engaged and take better care of themselves, because they'll be more part of the process," he added.
The percentage of users may not be as high as Carle would like because some people may be unaware of some of the features, Schuh speculates.
For example, he said, there are apps available to access the system on smartphones that only hundreds of patients are using: Just 381 Carle patients are using the system for iPhone and 175 for Android phones, he said.
You can't see all of your records on the MyCarle system — for example, you can see reports on your X-rays but not the actual X-rays, and you can see summaries of your care but not the physicians actual notes — but you can view a lot, Schuh said.
That includes information on immunizations, allergies, medical history, insurance coverage, lab results, details of past and upcoming appointments, and instructions from doctors.
"The convenience is such that I can't imagine anybody saying, 'No, I don't want to find out the results of my test or what my medications doses are,'" Schuh said.
Coming up in the fall: Carle plans to add another feature that will allow patients to communicate directly and securely with their doctors through the MyCarle system, Schuh says.
Carle says patients can sign up for the system at carle.org/mycarle or by calling 326-4001.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-08-17/carle-expands-online-medical-records-system.html
HIMSS: Extend Stage 2 Attestation Period in 1st Year
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society supports Stage 2 of the electronic health records meaningful use program starting on time, recommends an extended attestation period for the first year.
Many providers are ready for Stage 2, starting in October 2013 for hospitals and January 2014 for eligible professionals, but many others need more time, the association says in a letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and ONC leader Dr. Farzad Mostashari.
“Therefore, HIMSS recommends that Year 1 of the Meaningful Use Stage 2 attestation period extend through April 2015 and June 2015 for EHs and EPs, respectively,” according to the letter. “This would encompass 18 months in which EHs and EPs can attest to quarterly Meaningful Use requirements.”
Information in the HIMSS Analytics Database indicates that up to 68 percent of eligible hospitals and 41 percent of their tethered ambulatory facilities have purchased necessary software to attest to 2014 criteria, but many may still be waiting for upgrades to the certified version, HIMSS notes.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/ehr-electronic-health-records-meaningful-use-46491-1.html
MMRGlobals FB Page
CONTINUED ROYALTY IN PATENT RULING
Another patent victory for small business including a ruling for continuing royalties. While the courts and parties debate the continuing royalty the personal health record and on line pharmacy business continue growth quarter over quarter.
http://ia700702.us.archive.org/11/items/gov.uscourts.vaed.271949/gov.uscourts.vaed.271949.963.0.pdf
Whassup, thank you. I love reading these types of articles. Have a good weekend & stay safe.
This is an excellent company to be in. Charles Payne said a year & a half ago it was a buy @ $13.00.
Many of you have mentioned UPS, FedEx, etc. converting & you are right this is a very positive thing.
However, what I see that I like very much is that CLNE is building just like the railroads did in the 19th century. Building on the trucking routes from the east coast to the west coast.
We got our 1st station hear in St. Joseph, MO within the last year.
Once they cover the transportation industry that across the country the rest will collapse.
Field of Dreams... Build It & They Will Come!
Expert shares insights on preparing for stage 2 MU
Organizations preparing for the second stage of the meaningful use program should brace for expanded focus on care coordination, EHR functionality and patient involvement in order to succeed, Nancy Fennell said in this interview. Fennell, who directs the Regional Extension Center of New Hampshire that helped most of the state's critical access hospitals and primary care providers achieve MU, also advises providers to take time to learn about EHR functionalities and upgrades as well as have open communications with vendors to better prepare for stage 2. EHR Intelligence (8/12)
http://ehrintelligence.com/2013/08/12/expand-ehr-knowledge-for-stage-2-meaningful-use-success-qa/
Electronic health records still require manual labor
Until the EHR is put into the power of the patient??? Bone, read on...
By Beth Pinsker
NEW YORK | Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:22pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States has spent a lot of time and money to digitize healthcare records, but the effort has not gotten very far yet.
This is what patient advocate Dave deBronkart experienced recently when a relative went from a hospital to a rehabilitation facility after a hip replacement. Her chart had to be transported and then retyped upon her arrival, where her hyperthyroidism was transposed to "hypothyroidism."
"She could have been prescribed the opposite medicine she needed, with disastrous consequences," says deBronkart, who is known as e-Patient Dave on his blog and social media accounts. His family was well-schooled, though, and after they asked to review the records, they spotted the mistake.
The whole scenario would have been avoided with a more advanced record-keeping system that could transfer her records electronically.
Electronic health records in the United States are supposed to take full effect by 2015. Without that technical backbone, the promise of the Affordable Care Act - to provide better healthcare to more people for less money - may fail, according to experts.
The HITECH Act of 2009 provided the incentive money for the medical establishment to switch to electronic record-keeping. To date, doctors and hospitals have received more than $6 billion from the government to make the change, according to the Health Information Management Systems Society, a nonprofit organization promoting information technology.
And even more money is coming for upgrades to meet a second phase of requirements, which allow for increased patient interaction with their own medical records.
About 93 percent of doctors say they use some type of electronic record-keeping, which can mean anything from physicians' notes to billing, according to management consulting company Accenture Plc.
But only 45 percent are using their systems to access data from outside their own organizations, which could simply be mean looking up labs.
Far from worrying about the possibility that your data may be compromised, most experts have the opposite concern - that the systems are so closed off that the right people cannot access them.
And many electronic health record systems do not coordinate with each other because their development was left to the free market, says Kaveh Safavi, managing director of Accenture's North American health industry unit.
This means digitization is still in the experimental phase and that your doctors may not have settled on what software they are going to be using. In fact, Black Book Rankings, which tracks the implementation of electronic health records, says that 17 percent of physician offices plan to change systems in the next year.
Probably the only visible difference is that your doctor suddenly put a laptop in the exam room, and instead of scribbling on paper chart, he or she types your information. If your physician is one of the few using an advanced system, the next specialist you see would also have all that information.
PATIENTS' ROLE
In many cases, though, it is up to patients to make sure their information is correct.
To keep track of your own data, deBronkart recommends asking to review records at each step along the healthcare path is the best course. "As patients, what we do and don't ask for has some power," he says.
When moving among doctors, make sure that each has all the pertinent updated information about you. You do not even have to be high-tech about it - a simple piece of paper in your wallet with all of your medications listed can be helpful.
But you can also tap into any of the off-the-shelf diary or note-taking apps, which are especially good for monitoring recurring minor symptoms. A program like Evernote, for instance, allows you to attach a photo to each entry, which you could use to note changes in skin texture or swelling. Then you can present the information to your doctor at your next visit.
NEXT STEPS
Keeping up with your own records will get easier as the next phase of healthcare reform comes about. Known by the lyrical term "Meaningful Use II," mandates to be met by 2014 require electronic health records to be available to patients.
So far, interaction has mostly been in the form of test results available on a patient portal. But soon something called Blue Button access, named after a Veteran's Administration program, will allow you to access your medical records. Another approach is OpenNotes, a program that lets the patient view the notes the doctor has written, and possibly comment on or question them.
DeBronkart was a patient in a three-year study on OpenNotes that found both doctors and patients were highly satisfied with being able to share information this way.
"For me the real impact was that I was able to seize a moment and act on the question," he says, "something that's normally in other industries but somehow mysteriously missing in medicine."
(Editing by Lauren Young and Lisa Von Ahn)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/12/us-healthcare-costs-electronicrecords-idUSBRE97B0HB20130812?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWEVWUFVlRENxVENBQzFnc0w2dXpoSmYrM2pKMW84eUZBTjhTS1NBUGN5bHptYnFOaTdRTnEyV0xrZUdlVUsySlBRWFpQT3NvdHdPKzYwcXhzOFVmWnMyakE9
WebMD names new CEO & President
WebMD Health Corp., which provides health information through online portals, mobile platforms and publications, has appointed David Schlanger CEO and Dr. Steven Zatz president, effective Aug. 11.
David Schlanger
Steven Zatz
Read the entire article...
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130812/NEWS/308129950?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWGJYUHdERWxiNUtpQzMyWmVqNW40WUpibWg=&utm_source=link-20130812-NEWS-308129950&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits
Nice fine EZ2, I like reading this kind of stuff. Tell that beautiful girlfriend the Bone man says howdy, howdy!
Novant’s new iris scan connects patients to records
By Jessica M. Morrison
Correspondent
Posted: Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013
When patients arrive for an appointment at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, a staff member snaps a quick photo.
But this isn’t like photo for a driver’s license or passport. The focus is on the eyes.
Like something out of a science fiction movie, a new system at Presbyterian links patients to their medical records by scanning their eyes. The system, which the hospital introduced last month, is designed to combat identity mix-ups and theft.
“Someone can steal a driver’s license or a social security number,” said Veronica Rose, a registrar at Presbyterian, “but they can’t get your eyes.”
Hospitals across the country are turning to electronic means of recording medical information and verifying patient identity.
(A new initiative by Novant Health to combat identity mix-ups and theft means that patients will have their photo snapped during registration. The iris scanning system by M2SYS Technology was introduced at Novant Presbyterian Medical Center in July. Patient Hillary Marsee, 28, of Charlotte, is having her eyes scanned for the first time. Her medical history and identifying information are already on file. Her photo will be linked to her medical record, and the next time she checks in at a Novant Health facility, a quick eye scan will direct medical staff to her file.)
It’s not uncommon for patients with similar names and birth dates arriving at the same hospital to have their medical records confused.
Shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings in April, hospitals struggled to identify patients who’d arrived unconscious and without any identifying information.
And in the most dubious situations, a lost or stolen driver’s license might be used to receive medical care while the victim foots the bill.
The collection of biometric data – a finger or palm print, or face or voice recognition used for identification – has been used for years in law enforcement, banks, schools and clubs.
One of the key benefits is that there’s nothing for patients to remember to bring, such as a driver’s license or insurance card.
But for some, living in the future means discomfort about handing over their privacy. Novant addresses such concerns in letting patients opt out.
Hillary Marsee, 28, of Charlotte is not one of those worried patients. She likes the idea of having all of her medical information collected in one place and linked to the iris of her eye.
“There’s a lot of paperwork and ways that things can go wrong in the hospital. Having this all linked together tidies things up,” said Marsee, one of the approximately 900 patients who have been scanned so far. “But if people think it’s scary, they don’t have to do it.”
The tech-savvy aspect of the iris scanner appealed to Marsee and her husband Matt, 28. It’s also less messy than a fingerprint, he added.
Before choosing an iris scanner, Novant considered a similar system that scans the unique vein pattern found on the palm of a patient’s hand, a system that Carolinas HealthCare System has used since 2007.
Novant preferred an eye scanner because it doesn’t require patients to provide a second piece of information, such as a date of birth, once they’re in the system, said Tate Batson, assistant director of on-site patient access for Novant’s Greater Charlotte market.
Unlike the palm scanner, patients also don’t have to come into contact with any equipment with the iris scanner, Batson said.
For Novant, the new technology represents a $1.1 million investment toward patient safety and security, Batson said. Novant Health will have 150 iris scanning cameras in its hospitals in the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia.
Novant expects to have the iris scanning devices in all its Charlotte-area hospitals by the end of August.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/08/11/4227398/novants-new-iris-scan-connects.html
Amen, have a good Sunday & stay safe.
I wouldn't look for it. I got a notice from a law firm to be part of a law suite against them. Fortuneately I do not have much in it either.
Croptop, I did send the information to BL yesterday.