Personal Health Records

HL7, AHIP, & BCBSA sign memorandum of understanding regarding transferability of health information.

Link to story:

http://www.bcbs.com/news/bcbsa/
hl7_ahip_bcbsa_collaborate_on_phrs.html

Patient Centered Health Information Technology (PCHIT) blog entry regarding utilizing technology in healthcare.

Link:

http://www.pchit.org/2007/11/12/132/

There is an interesting article in the November, 2007,  issue of Harvard Business Review titled, “Are Your Engineers Talking to One Another When They Should?” The authors describe a process to analyze the communications between groups involved in designing complex machinery. They argue the design structure matrix should be used to set up communication patterns when a complex design project is undertaken. They use designing a jet engine as an example to illustrate the process used to set up and monitor communication between teams responsible for different components that will eventually interact with each other. The first step is to make an aligning matrix composed of the intersections between designing teams and receiving teams. Some of the components will have no interaction and are unclassified. Areas of interaction are then classified as Matched, Unattended, and Unidentified based on interviews from the design teams and the development teams. As the project proceeds expected patterns of communication can be monitored. Unexpected areas of communication may be noticed. At the conclusion of the project, interview can be repeated and actual patterns seen can be analyzed. This may aid in implementing another complex design project. The authors also discuss some of the communication problems which occurred between groups during the design of a jet engine and propose strategies to address them. These same principles could be applied to the design and implementation of personal health records and national health information infrastructure (NHII) in general.

Article reference:

Sosa, M. E., Eppinger, S. D., & Rowles, C. M. (2007). Are Your Engineers Talking to One Another When They Should? Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 133-142.

Here is a blog entry regarding a survey about personal health records that is being conducted.

Link:

http://edodds.blogs.com/conmergence/2007/11/personal-health.html

Here’s a blog entry from a Doctor in India regarding HEALTHTRACKS. It is a proposal from a group called America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

Link:

http://doctorandpatient.blogspot.com/2007/11/
healthtracks-partnership-for-electronic.html

Link to proposal outlining HEALTHTRACKS:

http://www.ahip.org/content/default.aspx?docid=21026

Link to AHIP:

http://www.ahip.org/

This is a blog entry about Medicine 2.0. There is also a mention about personal health records at the HIMMS conference.

Link to entry:

http://open.medicdrive.org/blog/2007/11/08/medicine-20-and-the-future/

Article about regional health information organizations (RHIO). RHIOs are seen as a steppingstone to implementing a national health information infrastructure (NHII). This article lists some systems which are currently functioning and conjectures that the formation of more will be slow.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=4644

This Wikipedia article on RHIOs has good information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RHIO#_note-16

The eHealth Initiative  Communities page lists communities interested in health information exchange.

http://ccbh.ehealthinitiative.org/profiles/default.mspx

HL7 is an organization that develops standards for healthcare information. The link below is for their balloting area.

http://www.hl7.org/ctl.cfm?action=
ballots.home&ballot_cycle_id=512&ballot_voter_id=0

Link to story:

http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/ME2/
dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=
9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=
AA628D271EE64A26820F3D17A4AEDFB0

From the announcement:

“MedicAlert + Safe Return will provide enhanced services including assistance when a person wanders or is lost and access to vital medical information in time of need. A call to the MedicAlert + Safe Return hotline will activate a community support network, including the local Alzheimer’s Association Chapters and law enforcement agencies, to help reunite lost persons with their caregiver. Additionally, once they are found, wanderers often require medical attention. MedicAlert enables first responders to access the wanderer’s personal health records and quickly treat the individual.

Beginning November 1, 2007, both MedicAlert and the Alzheimer’s Association will begin marketing the new purple colored MedicAlert + Safe Return identification bracelet specifically designed for persons afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.”

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,213423.shtml