Today I read a report from a recent speech by David Blumenthal, until recently the National Health IT Coordinator. The part that stood out most from the speech was the one that also formed the headline for the post:
Blumenthal: Building national health network could take decades
I completely agree! This is something that I have been saying for a few years.
While products like Google Health seem to be going in to Stasis and adoption of other Personal Health Records (PHR), such as Dossia, have achieved very little visibility, we are seeing increased examples of integration using Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault. This is the real value of the Personal Health Record. It is not a destination - it is a conduit. The more we can connect devices and services to these platforms (like the fitbit), the more valuable they become.
The Health Care Industry and the government has to wake up to the fact that we (the patient and consumer) are the de facto Health Information Exchange. We need a combination of cloud and device PHR solution. They need to work in tandem and not be an either/or solution. Imagine a Fitbit device that could also download an extract of my critical health data and hold it on the device, ready to be accessed via a suitably secure access control challenge.
Make it Simple - The Rainbow Button Initiative
The Federal Government have taken great strides in promoting the Blue Button as a means for Veterans and others to download their personal health data.
At a recent Patients 2.0 meeting this idea evolved in to the Rainbow Button Initiative.
We need to push for the Blue Button to be adopted in the private sector
We need a Green Button to allow us to anonymously share our data with organizations.
We need a White Button to leverage the Direct Project and make it easy to share our information, with our personal data, with members of our medical team.
Let's move the idea forward at HealthCa.mp/dc. I have posted a topic on the ideascale board for HealthCa.mp/dc. Come along on Wednesday 8th June and let's move this idea forward.
Let's not spend Billions and still not get what we need
Building a National Health Information Network will cost billions of dollars and take years to complete. The end result will still not meet all of our needs - what happens when we travel outside the country? It will create an information network where the patient is once again on the outside of the network with little visibility in to the information that is being shared about them.
Let's instead leverage the Personal Health Record and the nascent interoperability and recognize that the patient/consumer/citizen is the de facto Health Information Exchange. We need initiatives like the Rainbow button initiative to make sharing health data simple and understandable.
We need to leverage the fast paced innovation that is taking place in the wearable device and mhealth sectors.
Come along to HealthCa.mp/dc on Wednesday 8th June at the amazing Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health and join in this vital discussion.
