Health Care Hustle
March 23, 2007
The website of the organization Working America has launched the Health Care Hustle – an opportunity to share stories online by health care consumers who feel the impact of the broken health care system here. Many of the stories are submitted anonymously by the uninsured or underinsured and low income. As you might expect, these are stories of high deductables, expenses driving people to bankruptcy and relying on emergency room care. The site also gives the user the opportunity to write one of the Hustlers – big pharma, insurance industry, greedy corporations, and Bush and company generating a standard letter email promoting the groups issues.
Unlike other consumer websites which encourage rating doctors and hospitals as good or bad, this site is focused exclusively on what’s wrong with healthcare. Maybe it will provide fodder for legislators to promote change in health care financing and delivery.
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PracticeFusion and Google – the real story
March 21, 2007
The big announcement by PracticeFusion, a startup offering a free EMR in exchange for using the patient data to sell ads, is reported as a partnership with Google. Is this Google Health or something else. Reading the fine print, “Practice Fusion’s deal with Google is what makes a free medical records system possible. Google’s AdSense program will generate ads that will be displayed as the records system is used.” according to SaukValley.com. Doesn’t sound like Google is moving into the EMR business with this program. Besides, if it was a high level Google partnership, won’t Google announce it simultaneously?
Share this:AHIC Members Disagree over PHR Certification
March 20, 2007
According the Government HealthIT, the American Health Information Community (AHIC) “sided with the majority on its Consumer Empowerment Workgroup and voted unanimously in favor of the certification recommendation.” The group favors “teathered” PHRs – one’s that are populated with information from providers and/or insurance companies which requires standards on data storage and transfer. The dissenters, lead by a Markle Foundation representative, says that the technology is too new for standardization and it could stifle innovation.
My opinion is to agree with the point that the field is relatively new and difficult to standardize, however, we are at a tipping point in terms of adoption and standards, particularly around security, could enhance and speed adoption and the risk of not standardizing is a potential for a security leak which could significantly damage adoption by the general public. I do not agree that standardization would hurt innovation.
Share this:Cleveland 2.0 – Avatars and Innovations
March 17, 2007
Today I attended Cleveland 2.0 – a new confederation of business, education, the arts and healthcare to move the “best-kept secret” city to a new level using Web 2.0 innovations. One of the features was a new island in the virtual word, Second Life, representing the city of Cleveland including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic. This growing phenomenon may just seem like a new toy for the gaming set but companies are investing in becoming the first to set up shop in this world, for instance, Reuters.
The meeting generated hundreds of ideas with planned followups for each topic group. Since the groups have entrepreneurs as well as a social conscience, great things are possible. Unfortunately, health care, such as large force in the city, was under represented. More as this unique phenomenon develops.
If you haven’t watched the “Web 2.0 – the Machine is Us” video on YouTube, do it now.
Share this:Patient-centered medical home
March 16, 2007
Four physician groups are endorsing this new model of care (American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Osteopathic Association) according to Healthcare IT News. This model supports the use of information technology to coordinate and integrate care throughout the health system to improve outcomes. Key principles include:
- Personal physician
- Physician directed medical practice
- Whole person orientation
- Care is coordinated and/or integrated
This is a major endorsement for Heath IT. Another trend to watch as healthcare becomes more outcomes-driven and linked to IT.
Share this:New Medical Wiki Gaining Interest
March 15, 2007
Cardiology fellows at the Cleveland Clinic have established www.askdrwiki.com with a growing catalog of cardiology information for physicians and other medical professionals. The wiki includes videos, images and text with a growing group of screened participants. This is a good example use of Web 2.0 technology in health care using techniques to control who contributes but allowing collaboration among professionals as a way of building a knowledge base. They have been cited by the journal Nature.
Share this:Posting on the Cavalacade of Risk #21
March 15, 2007
My posting on How private are Proprietary PHRs is now linked from the MSSPNexus blog. Lots of other interesting posts especially on the risks of corporate blogging.
Share this:Personalized Health Information Act
March 13, 2007
HealthcareITNews reports that “Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I. ) plans to jumpstart the use of personal health records through a trust fund that pays doctors.” This will be an incentive program to give doctors $3 per patient using a PHR. Kennedy sees PHRs as an empowerment tool for citizens. Others quoted see them as essential for disease management.
You can read more on Kennedy’s website.
Two Announcements on Government Support for PHRs
March 13, 2007
In Government HealthIT today is a report on two announcements – one by HHS and one by ONCHIT regarding the enabling of personal health information. “HHS has announced it will launch a nationwide network of local and regional collaboratives. At the same time, the department will release a request for proposals for a new version of a health care network of networks that would be able to give consumers unprecedented control over the dissemination of their personal health care information.”
Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), said the government will seek proposals for a state-hosted or regionally hosted network that could enable consumers to direct their personal health information toward — or away from — specific health care organizations.”
It will be worthwhile to follow these two initiatives as they unfold.
Share this:Cleveland 2.0
March 10, 2007
I have been invited to attend a half day meeting and brainstorming session in Cleveland on using Web 2.0 technologies to meet community needs through becoming more of a connected community. It’s a great idea called Cleveland 2.0 which is being sponsored by Case Western Reserve University, my alma mater. Specifically it is the brain child of Lev Gonick, CIO of the university. His treatise on Web 2.0 and Cleveland is extensive. Some of the proposed ideas are:
- A common, replicable and scalable web 2.0 framework enabling citizens to propose legislation in their cities
- Personal Digital Citizen Initiative – a device for all low income people
- PledgeBank is a web 2.0-enabled site to help people get things done, especially things that require lots of participants
- The Cleveland Health Interpreters Network
- International Center for High Definition Presence in Support of the Arts and Culture
Should be an exciting day. Will report more after the fact.
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