A Different Way of Thinking About Health Information

August 13, 2012

Delivery System Reform Health IT

Health Care Stakeholders | Policymakers | Media

A consumer walks down the street using a smartphone – but rather than texting a friend, calling home or checking email, she is reporting data that will inform a clinician about the status of her asthma management. Is this scenario real or fantasy?

As Americans grow more and more comfortable with technology in daily life – at work, at home and at play – one wonders why personal technology isn’t more widely used in health care. Patients are frustrated that they can’t access many of their providers through email; that they have to fill out paper forms multiple times, even in the same office; and that they must endure an office visit to their provider to have their progress monitored when they can visit their relatives across the ocean through Skype.

The scenario with the smartphone mentioned above is in fact being tested. However, there are many policy considerations before we “get there” with consumer-generated health information, including the potential need for regulation of mobile apps that transfer health information; dealing with the complexities of integrating patient-generated information into the electronic health record; and melding these advances with “meaningful use” requirements to qualify for federal payments. In addition there are privacy and security issues, including HIPAA compliance concerns.

What other special issues need to be addressed to enable the transmission of patient-generated information to occur effectively? How do these issues align with the key components of meaningful use? Are there programs demonstrating the effective use of patient-generated information? Can they be replicated? What are the principal barriers to more rapid adoption of these types of interactions?

To address these questions and more, the Alliance for Health Reform, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) sponsored an August 13 lriefing. Panelists were: Stephen Downs, RWJF; Stephen Rothemich, Virginia Commonwealth University; Deven McGraw, Center for Democracy and Technology; and Joy Pritts, Office of the National Coordinator. Janet Marchibroda of the BPC and Ed Howard of the Alliance co-moderated.