Archive for August 28th, 2007
Payor Based PHRs – A Good Idea?
August 28, 2007
In an article in Health Data Management, the question is asked, “Should Payers Push PHRs?” The answer is yes and no. While a given patient may have many providers, they often have one payer, so a payer-based PHR gives the advantage, using claims data, to consolidate pre-populated health information in a PHR from many providers. Disadvantages include the fact that in some families, each spouse may have their own payer and the family may have information in two places. Claims data may also be delayed in posting compared to provider EHRs. Also, an employer may change payors or the employee may change jobs and payors. Would most people be more likely to stay faithful to a provider therefore making provider-based PHRs more advantageous? Certainly the surveys show that consumers prefer the PHRs in the provider’s hands. Another criticism from the article is that payor records lack detail. Could over-coding by providers and hospitals also make claims data look more alarming to the patient prompting more phone calls to the provider rather than having the records and secure messaging integrated with the provider?
Opinions welcomed.
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New Cancer Resource – MyBiopsy.org
August 28, 2007
Came across this new website which explains in lay language the meaning of cancer biopsy reports by cancer type. Presented by the College of American Pathologists, the site covers 22 cell types with microscope photos, how the diagnosis is made and treatments for each. This fills a gap in the cancer information available on the internet which is extensive. I hope many sites will now link to this resource.
Perhaps in the future the information could be RSS or web service enabled so that it could be incorporated into provider websites more easily.
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