As an active participant in the Twitter Healthcare community I often want to know more about what my fellow participants tweet. Over the coming months I’d like to go behind the tweet and take the opportunity to learn more. Sam Adams (@1samadams), Manager Enterprise Software Engineering of BayCare Health System (www.BayCare.org) graciously agreed to share BayCare’s approach for enhancing patient experience leveraging technology with me. Opinions expressed are personal opinions.
Liza Sisler: How are you using IT to positively impact patient experience?
Sam Adams: First the EMR we are rolling out (Cerner Millennium) will improve patient safety and satisfaction for all the usual reasons. What we are also working on, as part of our patient portal efforts, is getting that Personal Health Record INTO the patient’s hands – via HealthVault initially – there’s a strong drive to empower the patient with information.
Liza Sisler: How will you use HealthVault?
Sam Adams: At the very least, HealthVault will store a copy of the patient’s Personal Health Record – this could include allergies, medications, lab\imaging results… other items, such as progress notes, doc notes, etc are TBD, but the pertinent clinical data points will be there for the patient. The patient can then share that with their other care providers via HealthVault. Google Health too, later.
Liza Sisler: Any home monitoring planned?
Sam Adams: Conceptually that’s what our patient portal will empower our patients with, we have a home care division that’s pretty significant, so at some point, that will come into effect. It’s pretty sophisticated, uses central home monitoring\reporting. It must be, given our location (FL) and our demographics (mostly older folks) and given the promise of platforms such as HealthVault.
Liza Sisler: Chronic condition management is becoming a big issue – it sounds like you’re touching on that too?
Sam Adams: Stuff like (chronic) condition management is where we would want to leverage the partnerships already built into HealthVault (why reinvent the wheel). So all that you can already do in HealthVault or thru HealthVault, one reason why we want to SYNCH to HealthVault. So, while it’s unlikely we’ll accept those inputs back into the EMR, that’s ok, because our patient portal could act as a secondary repository\reflection of some of that data, that the patient can share with their physician.
For me, it’s always about how can I a) free the appropriate data from the bounds of closed systems b) empower the patient to use that data
That’s the great thing about HealthVault, it’s a great starting point, it’s open, it’s extensible.
Liza Sisler: In a perfect world, what would be the future of Health IT for you?
Sam Adams: First, enterprise wide standards – the business of Healthcare needs to enter the 21st century, enterprise world – so – stuff like integration and open REAL standards are second nature, not Sisyphean tasks. Second, data is FREE! yes, it’s secured, always, but data is easily accessible to authorized users anytime, anywhere: clinicians, patients – THEY own the data to interact with it, not a vendor, not an org, not a system. There will be guardrails, but no silos.
Liza Sisler: Thanks so much Sam!
Microsoft HealthVault & Google Health are generating considerable buzz because of the promise to the patient/consumer of access to the data that has been collected about them for years. New partners are announced weekly, it seems, that are providing device connectors and interfaces built on the HealthVault platform. However many questions remain, How do patient/consumers get the data from their providers & into HealthVault or Google Health in a format that they can use? Will providers implement solutions that allow data to be easily shared when this could negatively impact their business by allowing the patient/consumer additional choice & freedom to switch providers? Will patients/consumers use this data to make healthy decisions and be active participants in preventative care? What are the additional drivers beyond proposed Meaningful Use requirements? What do you think?
