EHRtv

News topics include: Minnesota awards a contract to MEdecision Inc. for a personal health record program.
Capzule PHR creates the first personal health record app for iPad.  Lastly, Ezra Klein posts a controversial article about the absurd delay in moving medical records from paper to computer.

Category: Let's Get Personal
Date: June 22, 2010
Views:1,469 views
Information:

Welcome to Let’s Get Personal. I'm Brie Wolf bringing you the news pertaining to personal health records.

The state of Minnesota has awarded a contract to MEdecision Inc. to provide technology for a personal health record program being developed for state employees and their dependents. The initiative is designed to give state workers and their families an additional tool to manage their health and help control medical costs. The program is expected to begin in the fall. Employees who choose to use the system gain access easily with a computer, Internet connection and a basic web browser. The State of Minnesota employee insurance division director, Nathan Moracco, says:

“We want to encourage private sector employers to follow the state’s lead in making Personal Heath Records available to their employees.”

Time will tell if other states follow Minnesota's lead.

In other news, Capzule PHR is the first personal health records App for iPad. Its share feature allows data transfer between iPad, iPhone and iPod touch devices. This makes it easier to copy data to a family member's device. The most unique aspect of Capzule PHR is the ability for users to create their own personal journal recording variations in health conditions, progress of health goals, and other observations. Capzule PHR helps users record both ones own personal medical information and family medical information. All the medical data may be stored in one secure location, and is available to review immediately when speaking with one's doctor. The Capzule PHR App is available for $5.99.

Lastly, Ezra Klein wrote a controversial article that appeared in The Washington Post. He writes of the absurd delay in moving medical records from paper to the computer. Why? He likens it to this:

"Imagine walking into a bank where clerks scrawled all your information in a giant ledger book.You'd run out and tweet all your friends about this hilarious bank from the 18th century. But we actually let people do this with our medical records, and then some of us die or have serious problems because our records get lost or our doctor's handwriting is illegible."

Moreover, Ezra says:

"We may all be made up of computer bits before we have electronic medical records."

The time it takes for doctors to learn the new systems and the fact that they won't necessarily increase their incomes, are 2 big reasons that the progress is so slow.

Well, I'm Brie Wolf and this has been Let's Get Personal. Thank you for watching.