COMP 2903A7 – Personally Controlled

Online Health Data – The Next Big Thing in Medical Care?

Danny SilverJSOCS, Acadia University

Robert Steinback, MDThe New England Journal of Medicine, April 17, 2008

• VA Medical Center– Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine– Adjunct Associate Professor of Community and Family Medicine

• National correspondent for the New England Journal of Medicine

• Link to article

Health Records Poised for an Online Transformation

• Currently, most medical records are in filing cabinets

• Major projects such as the following are about to change all of this:– Google Health (no longer exists)– Microsoft HealthVault

• Why ??? • $2.1 Trillion = $2,100 B US health care system

What’s in it for the People?• Online repositories of Electronic Health Records

(EHR) will allow patients to:• Store, retrieve, manage data from anywhere • Quickly share info with others, such as:

– Past medical problems and history– Medications– Allergies– Immunizations– Test results– Health insurance coverage

• Take greater responsibility for personal health info• Link to article

Questions?

• Do we want this service/responsibility?– 91% surveyed feel they should have access to

their own EHR [Nov, 2007, online survey]

• Will physicians like the idea?• Will it improve health care?• Will it decrease overall health care costs?• Will it threaten our privacy?

Health Care –vs- Privacy

• EHR is a two edge sword:– Tremendous collection of patient data for

collective and individual use– Tremendous threat to personal privacy

• What are the possibilities?? ... THINK/PAIR/SHARE

• Note: – 60% agreed that benefits outweighed privacy risks– But .. Only 1% surveyed used any form of EHR

Health Care –vs- Privacy

• Promises of privacy from Google etc may not have to be upheld

• Physicians are only now starting to understand changes and beginning to make decisions

• There is competition between physicians and yet they are required to share info when asked

Canada Health Infoway

• Independent not-for-profit corporation created by Canada’s First Ministers in 2001

• Mission: To foster and accelerate the development and adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems and compatible standards and communications technologies

• https://www.infoway-inforoute.ca/lang-en/

Canada Health Infoway

• Sstrategic investor of funds provided by the Federal Government:– Providing the technology Blueprint to guide the

development of EHR– Supporting and sustaining communications and

technology standards– Jointly investing with the provinces and territories– Providing tools and services for technology vendors– Fostering and supporting clinical adoption of EHRs

Well ..Let’s hear directly from Robert

• Well at least a Robert …

What happened to Google Health?

From the Official Google Blog• Goal was to create a service that would give people access to their

personal health and wellness information and have a real impact on the day-to-day health experiences of millions of our users.

• 3 years showed that Google Health was not having the broad impact that we hoped it would.

• Adoption occurred for certain groups:– tech-savvy patients and their caregivers– fitness and wellness enthusiasts

• continue to operate the Google Health site as usual through January 1, 2012, and we’ll provide an ongoing way for people to download their health data for an additional year beyond that, through January 1, 2013.