Wave of the Future?
This entry was posted on 10/5/2007 8:13 AM and is filed under Health Care,Program Management.
Nearly eleven months ago, we published an article describing how the lack of available data undermined the effectiveness of consumer-driven benefit plans, as well as U.S. health care in general. A major part of the problem is the unavailability of electronic medical records (EMRs). As we noted last year, "This data can streamline medical records, improving
coordination, and overall quality, of patient care. They also reduce administrative overlap,
streamline communication and information-sharing, and, ultimately, reduce
health care costs."
Despite these advantages, doctors and hospitals have resisted the use of EMRs. According to a study by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation and U.S. Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information
Technology, the cost and time involved to deploy a universal platform have impeded efforts to implement these systems. This barrier has put U.S. health care at a distinct advantage compared to systems in other industrialized nations (see " Prisoners of Health Care — and That's the Good News")Now, according to an article in Employee Benefit News, a "New Microsoft Platform [can] Reinvigorate Personal Health Records" (click here to read the column). Microsoft's HealthVault is a software and services bundle "designed to help people manage and store personal health information,
including billing statements, blood pressure and glucose levels,
doctor's appointments and prescription drug information. . . . [The system] makes it possible for people to
collect their private health information, on their terms, and for
companies across the health industry to deliver compatible tools and
services." As a Microsoft representative notes, "We think a shared-data repository ... an online data center [like HealthVault] is the first step."
And that's the best way to look at this news — as a first step. To Microsoft's credit, the company's "bottoms-up" approach may be the start of a much-needed effort to modernize health care technology. By creating a tool to stimulate consumer demand for data, Microsoft may be creating a problem for the health care industry: the need to implement "compatible [data] tools and services" of its own.
Like EMRs.
Today, only about 10% of U.S. providers have access to functional, integrated EMR systems. There just hasn't been enough demand, from doctors or patients (i.e., us), to justify widespread investment in automated medical recordkeeping and information sharing. Here's hoping the Microsoft initiative helps change things.
If HealthVault catches on, and even more robust programs follow in its wake, the health care industry may just start feeling enough pressure to get its own electronic act together. If that happens, Microsoft's "first step" may be the one to jump-start what we all need — and finally get the U.S. health care industry off life-support.
