MMRGlobal, Inc. (fka MMRF)

[tbone1360]

I was T1, I posted this late last night perhaps you missed it? Make sure you read the BOLD print.

tbone1360 Sunday, 04/20/14 11:48:13 PM
Re: None Post # of 69994

Federal Rules projected to drive growth in PHR usage at labs could spell licensing & sales agreements for MMRF.

Will direct patient access to lab results increase PHR use?
By Waco Hoover, CEO, Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT), April 20, 2014

A new federal rule on the exchange of health data removes legal barriers that prevent medical laboratories from providing lab test results directly to patients and their designees, such as developers of personal health records systems. Many health record system vendors and labs have been pushing for an update to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA), which regulates 239,000 healthcare testing labs, suggesting that it unnecessarily prevents patients from playing a more active role in healthcare decisions. Under the new rule, labs will be required to provide patients copies of their lab test results within 30 days of a request. The new rule requires labs to address how they can effectively get this data to patients within the 30 day period.

Quest Diagnostics’ senior vice president and chief medical officer, Dr. Jon Cohen said, “HHS’ final rule means millions of Americans who previously could not access their laboratory and other healthcare data from clinical laboratory companies like Quest can now do so without first requiring the approval of their healthcare provider”. How will lab like Quest (NYSE: DGX), Lab Corp (NYSE: LH) and other firms electronically deliver this data to patients? Personal health record software is arguably the most effective mechanism to deliver lab results to patients in a timely, secure manner. Labs may seek strategic partnerships with vendors providing personal health records.

Some of the largest health IT vendors like Cerner (NasdaqGS: CERN), Allscripts (Nasdaq: MDRX) and Epic (OTC: EPOR) all have PHR tools that are offered to their customers may be ideal candidates to partner with. Alternatively, lab services firms may choose to license tools from groups like MMR Global (OTC: MMRF), who has an extensive portfolio of patents relating to PHRs. Incidentally, MMR Global already has existing licensing agreements with Cerner, Walgreens and pending litigation with Webmd, Quest Diagnostics, and Allscripts for their PHR patents. Labs can potentially license the technology and offer these tools direct to patients. Regardless of the tack they take, providing information such as lab results direct to patients moves the U.S. health system closer to an empowered patient, tracking their health progress and proactively working with health professionals.

About iHT

Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT²) is the leading organization promoting the collection of private sector executives and public growth and effective use of technology in the health sector. Through the joint efforts of the Institute provides programs that stimulate innovation, education and a critical understanding of how to improve the technological applications, solutions and equipment quality, safety and efficacy of health care. The Institute is working in partnership withHealthcare Informatics and was acquired by the Vendome Group, LLC, Healthcare Informatics’ parent company, in December 2013. Vendome produces high-quality information for professionals in the healthcare industry and serves their needs through online, print, mobile, webinars and face-to-face engagement. For more information, visit www.ihealthtran.com.

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