Transcript 7 - Acadia University

COMP 2903
A7 – Personally Controlled
Online Health Data – The Next Big Thing in
Medical Care?
Danny Silver
JSOCS, Acadia University
Robert Steinback, MD
The New England Journal of Medicine, April 17, 2008
• VA Medical Center
– Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine
– Adjunct Associate Professor of Community and Family Medicine
• National correspondent for the New England Journal
of Medicine
• Link to article
Health Records Poised for an
Online Transformation
• Currently, most medical records are in filing
cabinets
• Major projects such as the following are about
to change all of this:
– Google Health (no longer exists)
– Microsoft HealthVault
• Why ???
• $2.1 Trillion = $2,100 B US health care system
What’s in it for the People?
• Online repositories of Electronic Health
Records (EHR) will allow patients to:
• Store, retrieve, manage data from anywhere
• Quickly share info with others, such as:
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Past medical problems and history
Medications
Allergies
Immunizations
Test results
Health insurance coverage
• Take greater responsibility for personal health info
• Link to article
Questions?
• Do we want this service/responsibility?
– 91% surveyed feel they should have access to
their own EHR [Nov, 2007, online survey]
• Will physicians like the idea?
• Will it improve health care?
• Will it decrease overall health care costs?
• Will it threaten our privacy?
Health Care –vs- Privacy
• EHR is a two edge sword:
– Tremendous collection of patient data for
collective and individual use
– Tremendous threat to personal privacy
• What are the possibilities??
... THINK/PAIR/SHARE
• Note:
– 60% agreed that benefits outweighed privacy risks
– But .. Only 1% surveyed used any form of EHR
Health Care –vs- Privacy
• Promises of privacy from Google etc may not
have to be upheld
• Physicians are only now starting to understand
changes and beginning to make decisions
• There is competition between physicians and
yet they are required to share info when asked
Canada Health Infoway
• Independent not-for-profit corporation
created by Canada’s First Ministers in 2001
• Mission: To foster and accelerate the
development and adoption of electronic
health record (EHR) systems and compatible
standards and communications technologies
• https://www.infoway-inforoute.ca/lang-en/
Canada Health Infoway
• Sstrategic investor of funds provided by the
Federal Government:
– Providing the technology Blueprint to guide the
development of EHR
– Supporting and sustaining communications and technology
standards
– Jointly investing with the provinces and territories
– Providing tools and services for technology vendors
– Fostering and supporting clinical adoption of EHRs
Well ..Let’s hear directly from
Robert
• Well at least a Robert …
What happened to Google Health?
From the Official Google Blog
• Goal was to create a service that would give people access to their
personal health and wellness information and have a real impact on the
day-to-day health experiences of millions of our users.
• 3 years showed that Google Health was not having the broad impact that
we hoped it would.
• Adoption occurred for certain groups:
– tech-savvy patients and their caregivers
– fitness and wellness enthusiasts
• continue to operate the Google Health site as usual through January 1,
2012, and we’ll provide an ongoing way for people to download their
health data for an additional year beyond that, through January 1, 2013.