In The Know - MEDSEEK News and Expert Opinion on the eHealth Industry

Why People are Signing the Petition on change.org >> ONC: Engage Patients & Families in their Health - Enhance Meaningful Use Stage 2

“Patients with chronic conditions spend less than 0.01% of their lives interacting with their health care providers. Patient engagement through access to their health data and supporting education and information is essential so that a portion of the remaining 99.99% of their time can be dedicated to managing their own healthcare.”

“I believe that knowledge is power, and to be better informed with respect to our own healthcare will help us to be active & responsible participants in managing our health.”

“Patient portal technology is critical to helping me take control of my health management and will help reduce healthcare costs in the long run.”

“Positive patient outcomes begins with patient empowerment which can only occur when patients and families are engaged in their health and health care.”

“Because it is important for us to be engaged and have easier access to our medical information. This helps us take control of our own health and makes it easier for us to do so by creating and empowered society you make a healthier population.”

“I believe everyone should be able to know as much as possible, about their own health situation, in order to make the best individual care and management choices.”

“Health is a function of participation. As Leonard Kish articulates so well in his blog, http://ideasarecheap.posterous.com/acos-and-moneyball-medicine-part-iv-high-prob, we to stimulate innovations in designing next generation of consumer-centric ehealth solutions and ecosystems (including EMRs, PHRs, HIEs)and which creating network effects through an "architecture of participation." Keeping Patient Engagement in MU will be a key driver to move us from provider to consumer centric approaches.”

“I am an educated, informed and competent person who expects access to information that will help me better manage my most valuable asset, my health.”

“Health care is way behind in technology. There's no excuse for paper transactions and delays in client information anymore.”

“As a patient with a chronic disease, managing my health through my own tracking (spreadsheets) is archaic and error-prone. Having the ability to access my medical records through a secure patient portal will help me better manage and be educated about my condition.”

Add your name to the ever-growing list of patients who demand to be included in the healthcare equation. Sign the petition today!

View and manage my health online? Not so fast. The HIT Access Battle. What’s at stake for you.

As the deadline to file comments regarding Meaningful Use Stage 2 is Monday, May 7^th, many organizations and individuals are weighing in passionately about the proposed rule. And the battle for patient engagement and accessing our health information online continues...

The American Hospital Association (AHA) publically released their 68 page comment letter expressing opposition specifically to many of the Patient & Family Engagement measures proposed in Stage 2. Rick Pollack, executive vice president of the AHA states, "Taken as a whole, the proposed requirements for meeting stage two raise the bar too high.” Among their comments, the AHA articulates apprehension for providing patients the ability to view, download and transmit their protected health information via a patient portal, stating “The AHA believes that this objective is not feasible as proposed, raises significant security issues, and goes well beyond current technical capacity.” Additionally they have suggested that the currently proposed 36 hour turn-around time for patients to have access to their health information is too aggressive and should be extended to 30 days. Cue the flood gates for e-patients and patient engagement activists to respond to the AHA’s strong stance.

Christine Bechtel, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families and a member of the HIT Policy Committee reacts to the AHA’s letter saying, “It shows that, when it comes to patients’ access to their own health information, the group (AHA) has little interest in advancing Meaningful Use criteria that would result in tangible benefits for patients.” In regards to AHA advocating for a 30 day timeframe for patient access to their health information, Bechtel states “No patient in this day and age should have to wait a full month for access to their own health information, which is vital to their ability to get and stay well. And no hospital should want to do this--especially with payment penalties for unnecessary readmissions about to be put in place.” ePatient Dave also weighs in on AHA’s comments in a message to HHS Secretary Sebelius, “American healthcare is the world’s most costly and is often far from effective. Give Us Our Damned Data –Let Patients Help!”

These two opposing sides of the battle for Patient Engagement roar on, begging the question--as a patient and family member, do you deserve the right to access your health information and equip yourself with knowledge to manage your most valuable commodity, your health? To let your voice be heard, sign the petition to keep Patient Engagement in Meaningful Use. To further support the effort, please comment on the official regulations site before May 7^th.

Stay tuned for MEDSEEK’s comments to CMS about the proposed rule for Meaningful Use Stage 2. For additional information on keeping the Meaningful in Meaningful Use, see our 9 part blog series.

9 Things That Will Take the MEANINGFUL Out of Meaningful Use - #4 Fail to integrate the patient portal into your over-arching eHealth strategy

There’s no doubt that the Office of the National Coordinator is orchestrating a digital health transformation. Federal recommendations for Meaningful Use Stage 2 require provider adoption, patient and family engagement, and health information exchange. These requirements, which are synergistic with patient expectations, will help address the aging population, fundamental shift in reimbursement, and quality issues associated with multiple sources of patient records, but a patient portal alone is insufficient to meet the acute need for strategic patient engagement and patient care coordination. Hospitals and health systems need a long-term strategic digital health plan.

Due to the fundamental market shift in reimbursement models that is underway, hospitals are attempting to reinvent their care delivery model to prepare for the new risk and reward-based plans. This is leading to rapid acquisition of physician assets, provider consolidation, and the establishment of Patient Centered Medical Homes to help with Care Coordination. Patient Activation, Population Health Management, and Telemedicine are all essential in order to reduce costly readmissions and reduce the burden of chronic disease. Hospitals will need to dig deep into processes and systems to see where more efficient tools can be put in place and will need sophisticated analytic capabilities.

Transformative changes are particularly critical as hospitals gear up to care for an increasingly sick and aging patient population. The Baby Boomer generation is so big, it’s literally been coined the “Silver Tsunami.” Nearly two-thirds (35 million people) of the Boomers have at least one chronic health condition and that trend, unfortunately, is expected to continue to rise. That explains why, on average, Medicare recipients see seven physicians a year across four different practices and the average hospital has to coordinate care for 229 physicians across 117 practices. The costs associated with treating these patients and coordinating their care are staggering. Most hospitals need help prioritizing their IT budget and developing a strategic IT plan that will help control these costs.

To better balance margins, their comprehensive digital health strategy further needs to incorporate digital tactics that are proven to attract and retain more well-insured patients. This strategy needs to account for the reality that, according to the Deloitte 2011 Survey of U.S. Health Care Consumers, two out of three patients are already willing to switch providers just to gain online access to their medical records. That means the first hospital in a competitive marketplace to offer a competitive patient portal is going to have a significant jump on dominating ePatient market share.

Healthcare organizations need a consulting partner that has extensive experience helping hospitals realize new cost savings through precision marketing, process automation, online communication, self-service, patient activation, and reduced utilization. They need to be the experts in identifying digital health tools that will improve the bottom-line and prepare the organizations for survival in the “new era” where there will be less money, overall, in the system.

Choose a partner with a proven ability to help hospitals generate new sources of revenue by finding and attracting high-value patients, generating repeat business, cross-selling profitable services, and driving well-insured patients to money-making assets like centers of excellence and surgery suites. The strategic eHealth plan should outline how any IT nvestment you make will help you influence patient behavior and sway utilization patterns on both sides of the equation, leading to balanced margins.

The Two Most Common Healthcare Technology Myths

Myth #1: Older people won't know how to use a patient portal solution.  

Last year the fastest growing adopters of social networking were baby boomers. Okay, so maybe 85 year olds won't use the Internet as much, but their caregivers do. What if their adult children who are responsible for their care live miles or even states away?

The next logical question may be how this new type of patient will learn to use this new patient portal technology. While manuals and documents do exist, onsite and online training are also available, the reality is these users...young and old, will teach themselves. Think about it. Have you read your bank's online users guide? Or Amazon's? Not likely.  You have just figured it out.

 

Myth #2: The younger generation won't use a healthcare portal because they are not sick.

Young adults are on Mom and Dad's insurance much longer than they used to be, and are getting more preventative care at an earlier age. In the recent article by the American Academy of Family Physicians, 90% of the respondents ranging in age from 19 to 26 said they have a place of regular care and visited their healthcare provider at least once in the last year. The majority of those visits (59%) were for regular exams or preventive services, and 9% were for the management of a chronic condition.

What will keep them engaged? Online access and mobile access - where teenagers and young adults spend a majority of their time. Online scheduling and emailing providers are just two engaging tools hospitals can use to begin building those relationships to attract and retain young patients for years to come.

Learn more about how your health system can implement MEDSEEK's patient portal solutions.

--Travis Moore, Vice President Patient Experience, MEDSEEK

What are your grandparents doing online?

Where do your grandparents spend their time?  When they aren't spoiling their grandchildren they are almost all online.

Today, there are 69.6 million grandparents in the US, and this number is expected to grow to over 76 million between now and 2015. In a recent report, Nielsen reveals this growing market segment of Internet users (they account for nearly 32% of the active audience!) is one to watch closely. So, where do these tech-savvy grandparents spend their time when they are online?

It should come as no surprise that sending and reading emails was the number one online activity. But it was closely followed by accessing their online personal health records.

Grandma may not be an avid texter and might not check into her social media accounts on her smartphone right now, but she will be soon. Mobile use as well as social media activity is also increasing as the older population increases their usage of smartphone apps.

It's an undeniable fact: our grandparents are active, connected, spend money and are online. Just last August, Pew Internet reported that the fastest growing demographic for Facebook and other social media were age 50 and older.

Marketing professionals, especially those in the healthcare market, MUST include this segment in your marketing plans or you will miss a significant opportunity.

Click here to view the Nielsen Wire Article: U.S. Grandparents Share More than the Love.

Do you remember having a computer that wasn’t mobile?

For the first time smartphones are outselling computers, according to an IDC report that documented the surge of smartphone purchases in the fourth quarter of 2010.  Interesting note, when CNN covered the IDC headline, they did not reference smartphones; instead they referred to smartphones as “mobile computers”.

Let me ask you, true or false: “I never leave home without my wallet or purse, my keys and my smartphone.”

So what does that mean to those of us in health care?

Many us are getting ready to go to HIMSS11 in Orlando in two weeks. We will see many sessions and vendors highlighting Meaningful Use, EMRs,  HIEs and ACOs – a glimpse at the foundation of what will become the future of health care. But I wonder… with all of these changes taking place, what will be the buzz at HIMSS in five years?

The stethoscope was invented in 1816… 200 years later, will we still be using one? How much will IT advance? Will social networking take a bigger share of healthcare information? Stage 1, 2 and 3 of Meaningful Use will be complete. HIEs will be deployed. NHIN will be in place. ACOs will be the norm. What will be new on the horizon?

I predict:

• a new mobile eHealth ecoSystem will emerge

• tablet computers will replace laptops just as they’ve have replaced tower computers

• MP3 downloads of discharge instructions will replace CDs just as CDs replaced paper documents

• live video discussions with a physician from my smartphone or tablet computer  will replace specific face to face office visits

                       …and the list goes on.

Yet as we face the challenges of 2011, 2016 doesn’t really seem that far away. Does it?

Have you hired your hospital’s Social Media Manager yet?

If you haven’t…  you will  soon. There is no denying the impact of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social medial online resources. We have seen the rise of patient-focused social websites such as Patients Like Me and the impact they have on patients and their families. The HITECH Act will continue to encourage the use of the internet as a primary channels to improve health care.

In the not too distant future, it is easy to see how these types of sites will become much more integrated into engaging patients and their families with their own health care – especially as the patient becomes a “partner in care” as part of the growing ACO movement. 

A recent article in American Medical News describes how Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center has hired a Social Media Manager to interact with patients and families – and physicians as well. Do not make the mistake of looking at social media websites as fads… they aren’t. Those who embrace social media and build a social media strategy into their marketing plans and into their internal programs will be counted as the leaders, not the followers.

Click here to read the full article.

Are you ready for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use?

I know many of you are saying, “I’m not done working on Stage 1 yet, why would I worry about Stage 2?”

Consider this:  The earliest a hospital can begin to apply for Meaningful Use incentive payments is October of 2011. To begin receiving money, you are required to show 90 days of continual Meaningful Use compliance. Hospitals will need to begin this cycle by July 1 of 2011 – which just so happens to be the exact same time when we should know the requirements for Stage 2!

What does this mean to hospitals? You must “have an end in mind,” one of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, according to the book written by Steven Covey. We do not have the exact requirements for Stage 2 and 3 yet, but we have enough knowledge and information to predict what is to come. In order to get the maximum incentive dollars available, you must be in the game now. If you are not far enough along in the planning or implementation process to tackle the objectives of Stages 1 and 2 and have a plan to get Stage 3 by 2013, you will miss out on receiving the maximum dollars allowed.

A recent e-CareManagement blog post is asking the question “What will be needed in Stages 2 and 3?” 

What technologies are involved?

• Stage 1: mostly existing functionality of current EMR offerings, with enhancements to achieve specific MU objectives
• Stages 2 and 3: EHR (electronic health record) technology platforms and thousands (yes, thousands) of applications, many of which are early in-development or not-yet-dreamed-of.

For example, the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative recently described the range of technologies that will be necessary to fully implement the Patient Centered Medical Home:

Definition of Health Information Technology and Exchange (HIT&E):  Any computer hardware, software, electronic service, and/or related technologies that provide or enhance the capabilities of the patient centered medical home across the community . These may be installed solutions, service solutions, or solutions provided in some way by a third party (health plan, community organization, RHIO, etc) and could include – but are not limited to – EMRs, PHRs, EHRs, interactive web portals, patient or population registries, e-prescribing software, communication platforms such as secure e-mail, online scheduling, connectivity to home monitoring systems, data aggregation and reporting services, electronic decision support tools, and other online or web services that accept and process personal health data for the purpose of supporting better health care decisions.

The takeaway? Planning is not about 2011; it really is about 2015 and what hospitals must do today to meet the Meaningful Use requirements in four short years.

Click here to read the entire blog post.  

The power of a USB flash drive

Can you imagine having your social security number, bank statement, 401k transactions and credit card numbers all on one USB flash drive? Imagine that you would carry this around with you every time you are involved in a financial transaction. How secure would you feel? What happens if it is lost, stolen or misplaced?

Now imagine that your bank provided this to you as part of a federal requirement because you want access to your information. Wouldn’t you ask if this information was available online? Wouldn’t you demand it? Meanwhile, what if the competing bank had this information available online and it was secure? Which bank would you go to?

With Meaningful Use, hospitals will give patients access to their information by giving them a…USB flash drive or a CD. How do you think patients will react?

A very interesting blog addresses this from a very different perspective. It certainly got me thinking…


To view the blog, click here.

The Apple iPad and Healthcare

Last week’s announcement and introduction of the iPad certainly created a buzz. For those of us in this industry, the question becomes: “Is there a place for the iPad in healthcare?”  An interesting blog is raising this very question.  

I think the bigger dilemma is the lack of eHealth plans in hospitals that will be able to support and create applications using the Web. It is clear that other industries will develop applications for the iPad just like they did with the iPhone. Both Apple devices are platforms to allow consumers to remain connected wherever they are and to conduct research, chats, business or whatever else they want to do without having to be at any particular location. But to use iPad programs, healthcare organizations will need to allow applications to be developed, which will mean data sharing, security measures and more.

Just think, how many people do you know who no longer have phone land lines because they have a mobile device? Maybe you are one of those people. Think of all the daily functions that are performed on mobile devices daily. Now, think of all the things you can do to interact with your hospital on a mobile device. Not many came to mind, right? 

Then, think of all the interactions you can do with your laptop to interact with your hospital. Still can’t think of many, can you?

There is good news. With the HITECH Act and Meaningful Use requirements now in place, healthcare will be forced to make this huge leap into the world of technology and to continue developing ways to “Engage Patients and Families” with their own healthcare. 

The most successful healthcare organizations, however, will be the ones that look beyond the Meaningful Use checklist. Those organizations will understand that the components of the HITECH Act are only adding to an already wired world. Expanding broadband capabilities, implementing EHRs, PHRs, HIEs, and NHINs are just a few specific “e” projects hospitals are working on now. Engaging patients in their own healthcare will only take advantage of what consumers are already accustomed to… using a browser. 

Is the iPad just a reminder of what we can look forward to in healthcare during this decade? Or is it a reminder of how much farther hospitals have to go, to meet the demands of this decade’s Internet savvy consumer? 

To view the blog post “Apple iPad in Healthcare: Pros and Cons, visit http://scienceroll.com/2010/01/31/apple-ipad-in-healthcare-pros-and-cons/.