by David Harlow | Feb 4, 2014
The lab test result data access rule is finally final. See the HHS press release and the final rule, which is scheduled to be published on Thursday. What does this mean? In a nutshell, patients in all 50 states are now guaranteed the right to access the results of...
by Ileana Balcu | Jan 14, 2014
Our member Keith Boone with a great explanation of what to do when a provider’s office gives you the “I can’t do this because of HIPAA” about giving you your records:...
by Nancy Finn | Jan 3, 2014
In 2014, the baby boomers (individuals born between 1946 and 1964) will turn 65 at a rate of nearly 10,000, individuals a day. Over the next five years 17 million baby boomers turn 65. That’s a lot of people retiring, joining the Medicare system developing chronic...
by David Harlow | Oct 14, 2013
Meaningful Use Stage 2 includes the requirement that health care providers with EHRs seeking Meaningful Use incentive dollars demonstrate that 5% of patients actually view, download or transmit their data. The HIPAA/HITECH Omnibus Rule, which is now fully in effect...
by David Harlow | May 8, 2013
The new darling of the online educational community is Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The example which figures most prominently in the popular imagination is the Khan Academy, though its founder says otherwise, noting that MOOCs are merely online...
by David Harlow | Nov 30, 2012
The latest news story to examine the issue of patient access to implantable cardiac defibrillator data (a variation on the theme of “gimme my damn data”) is an in-depth, Page One Wall Street Journal story featuring Society for Participatory Medicine...
by e-Patient Dave | Oct 23, 2012
Quick, quick, do this now! Â Go add your signature to the hundreds who have already signed – this is about getting us access to our lab results, the same as any other health data! How important is this? Â Here’s a video of SPM member Ann Waldo discussing it...
by e-Patient Dave | May 28, 2012
Quick update before I go out and play: SPM member @AfternoonNapper just notified me that two more of us, Katherine Kelly Leon and Sharonne Hayes MD, are also on NPR today! Patients Find Each Other Online To Jump-Start Medical Research I awoke this holiday morning to a...
by e-Patient Dave | May 20, 2012
Guest post from SPM member Adrian Gropper, MD of HealthURL.com. Information is the foundation for patient engagement. Nothing about me without me. Although personal medical information starts out with your various institutions and doctors, it doesn’t just stay with...
by e-Patient Dave | Mar 23, 2012
The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is one of my favorite sources for accurate information on the rules about our rights to access our medical records. Their wizard Deven McGraw is widely recognized as one of the best authorities anywhere on HIPAA –...
by e-Patient Dave | Mar 1, 2012
This was originally posted on my own site. Social media response has said the examples of dialog help people envision how they can express things with their providers. There’s a new ending, at bottom. There’s nothing here that will be a surprise to any...
by e-Patient Dave | Jan 18, 2012
My annual physical is this Friday. Â Since my doctor and I were among the guinea pigs participants in the OpenNotes project, I just got this reminder email: Message Date/Time:Â 1/17/2012 10:00:06 AM Read Date/Time:Â 1/18/2012 7:19:08 AM From:Â OpenNotes, Study...
by David Harlow | Sep 30, 2011
On September 14, HHS released for comment draft lab results regulations that will, if finalized, effectively bathe the Achilles’ heel of health data in the River Styx of ¡data liberación! Lab results will be made available to patients, just like all other...
by Kathleen O'Malley | Sep 2, 2011
Nancy Finn submitted this guest post about the challenges facing doctors and patients who want to have clinical conversations online. The quest for the right communication formula and balance that will satisfy doctors and e-patients who want to experience continuous...
by e-Patient Dave | Jul 21, 2011
Update: The idea has advanced in the comments – be sure to read them. There’s a Twitter discussion bubbling right now about a “Green Button” idea that was proposed informally last year at HealthCamp SFBay. Here’s a link to our comments...
by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. | Jun 25, 2011
Like so many attempts before it — drkoop.com and RevolutionHealth.com to name just two — Google has found that implementing personal health records in a meaningful way is really, really hard. So hard, in fact, that it has given up and is shuttering its...
by e-Patient Dave | Jun 23, 2011
This is a cross-post, plus commentary at end, starting with an item today by SPM member Alexandra Albin (@MsAxolotl, a frequent patient herself), from her blog: My life in the Bush of Doctors. It arose from a boiling discussion on the SPM member listserv. To...
by e-Patient Dave | Mar 21, 2011
Readers interested in health IT issues will want to know about today’s webcast at 1:00 ET, and the policy issue described here by SPM’s policy chair David Harlow (Twitter @HealthBlawg), from the SPM members listserv: There’s a significant announcement out...
by e-Patient Dave | Feb 24, 2011
EMR and HIPAA is a great blog about health IT technology – well written, thoughtful, with personality. But I disagreed today with a post about the huge HIMSS conference (Health Information Management Systems Society) that ends today in Orlando. John wrote that...
by Susannah Fox | Dec 13, 2010
Given the evidence that people are ready, willing, and able to engage in online discussions about cancer prevention and treatment, what steps are being taken to ensure that the U.S. (and the world) does not miss this latest opportunity for education and discovery? The...
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