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Heads-up on EMR usability discussion

On April 21 I’ve been invited to testify again on behalf of patients at a meeting organized by the Office of the National Coordinator for health IT.  As we did here twice last year, let’s discuss what the meeting should here. Here’s the document they...

Rest in Peace: Personal Health Records (PHRs)

While doing some research the other day on personal health records (PHRs), I came across this article, describing Revolution Health’s announcement — without much media attention — about dropping its PHR at the beginning of 2010. (Disclosure: I worked...

Putting patients into “meaningful use”

The Health Research Institute at PricewaterhouseCoopers released a report today entitled Putting patients into “meaningful use.” It begins with the anecdote I’ve blogged about previously regarding a diagnosis by Facebook in lieu of a PHR, which some...

What people living with disability can teach us

The Pew Internet Project recently issued a short report noting that people living with disability are less likely than other adults in the U.S. to use the internet: 54%, compared with 81%. The first question many people ask when they hear that is, Why? The second is,...

SPM’s response to the PCAST recommendation on Health IT

Click the image to view the letter we submitted last week to ONC, commenting on the December 10 report of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) about health IT. The response was driven by SPM policy chair David Harlow and approved...

Six US health systems to share data

For those who believe in the power of facts, some wonderful news from CMIO, 12/15/10: “Six of the nation’s leading healthcare systems — Cleveland Clinic, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Denver Health, Geisinger Health System, Intermountain Healthcare and Mayo Clinic...

“Consent to Hoard” and other news from #IHI

I’m at the annual IHI Forum in Orlando, in an all-day workshop (class photo at left) titled “Whose Care Is It, Anyway … and Can Health IT Help?” Laura Adams of the Rhode Island Quality Institute was just talking about the social obstacles to...

Smashing myths & assumptions on PHR use (Chilmark)

John Moore of Chilmark Research has another great post, this time on the realities being discovered about PHR use among the urban poor – something most observers considered unlikely. It’s aptly titled Smashing Myths & Assumptions: PHR for Urban...

Caremark, Prescriptions and Personal Information

A friend of mine, Ms. S., recently had an unsettling experience with a company called Caremark (the parent company of pharmacy CVS), whom she fills her prescriptions through. She was reordering a prescription refill she buys through the mail, and needed to pay for it....

Should Patients Read Doctor’s Notes? Wrong Question.

When you have a doctor’s appointment, and she makes some notes and later formalizes them for your medical record, would you like read them?  There’s been debate over the years about whether patients should read the notes that doctors write about them and their health...

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