This morning I read:
"...Yahoo chief under fire over Chinese dissident ...". Apparently Yahoo provided personal Email data from a Chinese dissident that led to his imprisonment . It really should make you think about just how much of our personal information is out there and what some of the consequences can be when our privacy is compromised.
And just today, I also just read about the Candid CIO's enthusiasm about Google's new StreetView:
"Only a nerd like me would be excited about this"
"It allows you to see 360 pictures of the streets in Google maps. Google has mostly taken pictures of the streets in big cities."
"Yesterday, Just as I was arriving home from work there was a car with a fancy camera mounted on a pole that extended high above the roof. On the side of the car was a magnetic Google sign."
I don't know about you, but I'd get a bit nervous about having Google or any one else having even more info on me. And to think now that we are too also have them keep our personal health records (PHR). We really need to think this through carefully.
Showing posts with label Google PHR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google PHR. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Athena Health Platform and HealthVault? Just me thinking...
Just read an article in the Health Blog on Athena Health. Athena Health as you may know just had a very successful IPO. Although they initially focused on practice management functionality- medical billing etc, they have moved into the EMR space.
The back office "practice management" function (the medical billing) is a far easier nut to crack. Most doctors are already submitting claims electronically (directly or via a billing service). The EMR piece is more of a challenge and in some ways more "art" than science.
My feeling is that Athena Health should spend their efforts more on creating an interoperable "Practice management" platform in the same way Microsoft created Healthvault as a "PHR platform" rather then a PHR application. With Microsoft's approach, PHR vendors will use HealthVault as a backend platform to perform core PHR functions. In other words, Microsoft is not trying to take over the PHR space, but rather be a part of every PHR.
By creating a "Practice Management Platform", EMR vendors may design their systems to integrate with Athena Health's practice management functionality (this is done via a set of web services). The reason I say this is because those who know EMRs best are not the same people who know practice management functionality. If I was to design an EMR (which I am doing BTW), I'd much rather integrate well with a solid Practice management system than design my own.
The back office "practice management" function (the medical billing) is a far easier nut to crack. Most doctors are already submitting claims electronically (directly or via a billing service). The EMR piece is more of a challenge and in some ways more "art" than science.
My feeling is that Athena Health should spend their efforts more on creating an interoperable "Practice management" platform in the same way Microsoft created Healthvault as a "PHR platform" rather then a PHR application. With Microsoft's approach, PHR vendors will use HealthVault as a backend platform to perform core PHR functions. In other words, Microsoft is not trying to take over the PHR space, but rather be a part of every PHR.
By creating a "Practice Management Platform", EMR vendors may design their systems to integrate with Athena Health's practice management functionality (this is done via a set of web services). The reason I say this is because those who know EMRs best are not the same people who know practice management functionality. If I was to design an EMR (which I am doing BTW), I'd much rather integrate well with a solid Practice management system than design my own.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Likely PHR users
HealthVault has really stimulated great discussion on the issue of PHRs. A good part of the discussion is on the viability of the PHR concept and if PHRs concept will really "take off".
The vast number of PHR users are likely going to be the "worried well" (hypochondriacs) or those people with chronic illness who like to track (or in some cases, obsess) over their health issues.
The elderly, who probably would have the most to gain from a PHR for its ability to track long medication lists, multiple doctor visits and hospitalizations, are the same people who would be less likely to use a PHR. And this is not just because the elderly are not computer literate, but because of the usual age related health problems, such as low vision, early dementia etc. We will need to depend on the care givers to manage their PHRs.
To most people however, healthcare is something they hire someone else to worry about (the doctor) in much the same way we have a fund manager to manage our mutual funds. I suspect that it will be the “Quicken” types who will make up the vast majority of PHR users.
The vast number of PHR users are likely going to be the "worried well" (hypochondriacs) or those people with chronic illness who like to track (or in some cases, obsess) over their health issues.
The elderly, who probably would have the most to gain from a PHR for its ability to track long medication lists, multiple doctor visits and hospitalizations, are the same people who would be less likely to use a PHR. And this is not just because the elderly are not computer literate, but because of the usual age related health problems, such as low vision, early dementia etc. We will need to depend on the care givers to manage their PHRs.
To most people however, healthcare is something they hire someone else to worry about (the doctor) in much the same way we have a fund manager to manage our mutual funds. I suspect that it will be the “Quicken” types who will make up the vast majority of PHR users.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Obstacles for PHRs, HealthVault?
From the WSJ article Microsoft's Health Push Faces Obstacles :
" "Consumers are just not that excited about these" services, said Elizabeth Boehm, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc"
"Few households watch their health closely, so they aren't looking for new health tools. "In general they're not tracking it and don't understand the value of having it equally shareable" in digital form, Forrester's Ms. Boehm said. "They just don't understand what's in it for them.""
I must say that I do agree that most patients are not interested in this detailed level of their healthcare. The PHRs are being promoted/marketed to the general population, while products such as EMRs (electronic medical records) are targeted at a smaller group, the physicians. If just 10% of the population adopts PHRs, this may be considered a success from a consumer business standpoint, but will not necessarily revolutionize how healthcare is practiced. Wide-spread physician adoption is still the key to any healthcare revolution.
Unfortunately, those that consume much of the healthcare resources, the elderly and less affluent, may be less likely to use a PHR. Most PHR users likely will be among the better educated and many of these people will be the so called "worry-wells" (patients that are actually health but worry about their own health disproportionately)
" "Consumers are just not that excited about these" services, said Elizabeth Boehm, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc"
"Few households watch their health closely, so they aren't looking for new health tools. "In general they're not tracking it and don't understand the value of having it equally shareable" in digital form, Forrester's Ms. Boehm said. "They just don't understand what's in it for them.""
I must say that I do agree that most patients are not interested in this detailed level of their healthcare. The PHRs are being promoted/marketed to the general population, while products such as EMRs (electronic medical records) are targeted at a smaller group, the physicians. If just 10% of the population adopts PHRs, this may be considered a success from a consumer business standpoint, but will not necessarily revolutionize how healthcare is practiced. Wide-spread physician adoption is still the key to any healthcare revolution.
Unfortunately, those that consume much of the healthcare resources, the elderly and less affluent, may be less likely to use a PHR. Most PHR users likely will be among the better educated and many of these people will be the so called "worry-wells" (patients that are actually health but worry about their own health disproportionately)
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Google's PHR
While on the topic of HealthVault and PHRs, the discussion would not be complete without mentioning Google. Here is a link to some screen shots of Google's prototype PHR. This is more of a PHR than Microsoft's Healthvault. My patients and fellow physician colleagues would not have a problem understanding this type of application, its functionality is very obvious. Google's prototype PHR appears to be an "end-product" rather than a set of services like HealthVault.
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