CITIH - Connecting Technology and Patient Advocacy

Thornton May, futurist, led the panel on "Connecting Technology and Patient Advocacy"

Panelists:

• Julia Alexis, VP Health Initiatives at AARP
• Karen Bell, Director, Office of Health IT Adoption, HHS
• Michelle Dougherty, Director - Practice Leadership, AHIMA
• Paul Keckley, Executive Director, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions

Karen Bell:

"We need payment reform if we are to drive change with telemedicine."

"Healthcare seems to have missed out on Health and Web 1.0"

Michelle Dougherty:

"We created MyPHR.com to explain what PHRs are to consumers."

Paul Keckley:

"Recently completed their 2008 Survey of HealthCare Consumers."

Knowledge transfer is not linear. There is a triangulation. Social networks play a part.

Health Coaches supplement Physicians.

Guided Self care management is a workable construct.

Knowledge management engine, health coaches and the individual all brought together at "teachable moments" to effect change.

Karen Bell:

Multiple definitions of what is a PHR. The Government needs a good and consistent definition because their needs to be some legislation.

PHR Definition: It is a platform or record that has two characteristics:

• Interoperable information
• Under consumer control

There are a lot of unregulated applications that use the information from a PHR.

Julia Alexis:

Cost is a huge consumer deterrent. Consumers need to understand value.

Younger iPod generation has less emphasis on privacy. This sets the stage for the future.

Michelle Dougherty:

Don't care if PHR is electronic. Paper is okay. The first step is to get people to gather the relevant data and get some organization. Organization can be as simple as a paper folder.

"We need to start somewhere"

Paul Keckley:

Paper PHR system is Health 1.0 and will not work moving forward.

We need a forcing mechanism in place to force providers to go electronic.

consumers see no reason why Providers can't go electronic.

Karen Bell:

Certification has been created for EHRs and PHRs that prove they are interoperable.

From a Physician in the audience:

Physicians respond to need. There is not enough Need for Physicians to take part in PHRs.

We need to provide Real life immediate value to consumers.

Consumers have to push their doctors to engage.

Paul Keckley:

Medicaid populations have shown to be receptive to electronic tools and information. They may not have access but they are willing to use these tools.

196 PHRs being marketed in the USA today. 25% of doctors are linked to integrated health systems where IT is 4x the level of investment than in community-based healthcare.

Over 40% of adults surveyed showed receptivity to electronic health records from a major retail organization.

Michelle Dougherty:

Consumers get engaged as the complexity of their healthcare management rises. For example, Mothers handling the care of all their children. Kids dealing with sick parents with complex health issues.

How do we engage our patients?

JuliaAlexis:

• Convenience
• Engaging and Fun (Introducing the Care Notebook to enable sharing)

Paul Keckley:

• Benefits design - The structure of the system can impact the use
• Clinical model - needs to be expanded to a broader view.
• Holistic non-western care is the fastest growing healthcare segment
• There is a generational split. Passivity is a trait of the 40-60 year age group.
• We need to build rational business models around being healthy.

We need to rethink what we mean by "Health"

A growing group is embracing healthiness outside the traditional healthcare system.

Karen Bell:

HIPAA doesn't cover anything controlled by the patient.