The healthcare industry has been focused on improving patient engagement across the medical care spectrum in efforts to boost health outcomes. Both Stage 2 and Stage 3 Meaningful Use requirements under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs have specific objectives centered on enhancing patient engagement. Healthcare providers have been aiming to meet these requirements,…
EHR
Cancer Cytopathology – Going Mainstream: Online Sharing of Test Results With Patients
Outside the walls of medicine, seismic shifts are affecting how health professionals do their jobs and how the public experiences care. People are harnessing information previously outside their reach and are connecting with one another online in ways not imagined a few years ago. With ready access to the Internet and the use of always-on…
The Washington Post: How is the doctor-patient relationship changing? It’s going electronic.
Thanks to technology, Gary Sullivan enjoys a new kind of relationship with his doctor. If he wakes up with a routine health question, the 73-year-old retired engineer simply taps out a secure message into his doctor’s electronic health records system. His Kaiser Permanente physician will answer later that day, sparing Sullivan a visit to the…
The Washington Post: There’s lots of health-care technology out there. How do you choose?
The increasing digitization of health care has ushered in a wide array of technological options, pushing patients to read up on them and make good choices. Here’s what the experts say: Be a wise consumer. You wouldn’t buy a car without reading the reviews and making sure it’s safe. “Patients should use the same approach…
Kaiser Health News: Patient Safety Advocate Sees ‘Hope And Hype’ In Digital Revolution
Dr. Robert Wachter is a long-time patient safety advocate who has written extensively about the trends affecting quality and safety in health care. Wachter, associate chair of the University of California-San Francisco department of medicine, years ago coined the term “hospitalist” and predicted the rise of that profession. In his new book, “The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype…
The New York Times: The Healing Power of Your Own Medical Data
Steven Keating’s doctors and medical experts view him as a citizen of the future. A scan of his brain eight years ago revealed a slight abnormality — nothing to worry about, he was told, but worth monitoring. And monitor he did, reading and studying about brain structure, function and wayward cells, and obtaining a follow-up…
Health IT Outcomes: OpenNotes Allows Patients To Access, Annotate Their EHR
An OpenNotes pilot study has shown allowing patients access to their EHR leads to better medication adherence and a sense of control over their health – now researchers plan to allow patients to add notes to their records as well. OpenNotes, a project designed to allow patients access to their EHR, is planning to take…
EHR Intelligence: OpenNotes Pilots Show Value of Patients Annotating EHRs
With the advent of EHRs, mobile health products, telehealth services, and other health IT innovations, it comes as no surprise that physicians have also provided patients with electronic access to their written notes. The OpenNotes study started in 2011 and immediately showed patients feel better about and are more likely to adhere to their medications…
HealthIT Security: BIDMC Developing Interactive, Secure Health Data Program
Last week, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) received a $450,000 grant from The Commonwealth Fund to develop an interactive, yet still secure health data program. Specifically, BIDMC will be working with OurNotes, a tool that gives patients the opportunity to contribute to their own EMRs. OurNotes is an extension of OpenNotes, which BIDMC has…
Medscape: OurNotes Project to Explore Patient-Generated EHR Data
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the pilot sites for the successful OpenNotes project, is launching a study called OurNotes to test the concept of having patients add to and update their own electronic medical records. Using a $450,000 grant from the Commonwealth Fund, the medical center will collaborate with its…
