March 2008

PHR Privacy?

As summer rolls around so will the general availability of Google Health and Microsoft HealthVualt’s Personal Heath Records (PHR). These major players, plus the offerings from WebMD, Revolution Health, ActiveHealth Management and a dozen other PHR players raises the question of privacy and HIPAA.

These third-party PHR technology vendors are not covered healthcare entities according to HIPAA. Hospital and managed care associated PHRs do fall under the HIPAA privacy and security mandates.

As most readers of this blog know, HIPAA provides strict standards that classify medical information as a privileged communication between a doctor and patient. If the medical records aren't protected by HIPAA, the information could be used for marketing purposes.

In most cases, each health profile, including medical history, prescriptions and allergies, will be password protected. Vendors will likely have their own privacy policies which could match HIPAA laws, however they are just policies and not laws. 

Smart PHR vendors will go the extra mile to assure customers that their data is private and secure. This issue should be proactively addressed by PHR vendor PR people.
 

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 26, 2008 at 11:44 AM
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This is PR

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 21, 2008 at 4:44 PM
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A European Perspective

Research and consulting firm Health Industry Insights (HII) released its 2008 Western European Top 10 Predictions. According to HII analysts Jan Duffy and Silvia Piai, European healthcare providers are facing an "inconvenient truth": the traditional healthcare service delivery model — based on big box hospitals set up to deal with acute episodes, doctors as the only owners of clinical information, and little attention dedicated to wellness and prevention — is no longer sustainable. New patterns of demand, resource constraints, and glitches in the quality of service have brought this model to the point of no return. Health Industry Insights foresees common patterns of transformation of both the service delivery model and information technology modernization in Western Europe.

For their predictions for 10 key changes taking place in 2008, please click the "Continue Reading" link.

Continue reading "A European Perspective" »

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 18, 2008 at 9:05 AM
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Forrester Webinar

Healthcare IT marketers may be interested in an upcoming complimentary Forrester Research Webinar. "Master Your Success Imperatives As A Technology Product Management & Marketing Professional” will be held on March 25, 2:00 pm EST.

Forrester Vice President and Research Director Eric Brown and Senior Analyst Ellen Carney will advise on how to:

• Anticipate and respond to emerging technologies and competitors.
• Target and win share in promising market segments.
• Boost sales through online channels and social networks.
• Develop products that exceed customer expectations.
• Maximize the return from channel and ecosystem relationships.
• Craft compelling messages and share-capturing campaigns.

To register click here.  

My advice on industry analyst relations can be found in the “PR Strategy and Tactics” category of this blog. 

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 14, 2008 at 4:20 PM
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What Can Brown Do For You?

Privacy advocates wring their hands over medical records in the electronic ether, but a more frequent culprit of compromised records is UPS.  

The Associated Press reported that the medical records of 28 Central Florida Regional Hospital patients were sold last month at a Salt Lake City surplus store for about $20. The records were sold to a local school teacher looking for scrap paper for her fourth-grade class. The records contained addresses, Social Security numbers, medical histories, phone numbers and insurance information.

The hospital shipped the records via UPS to a Las Vegas company for a Medicare audit. One of the boxes was lost and ended up in a Utah surplus store for sale, according to the A.P. The confusing part is the package containing the records had a document indicating it was sold because the shipping company could not deliver it or find its owner.

Shipping companies often sell off packages that cannot be delivered. The A.P. reported that a UPS spokesman said his company keeps packages for at least three months before liquidating them.

Did UPS loss the box label, so the package floated in their system before being sold to the surplus store?  Last year a CD-ROM with thousands of medical records was “lost” by UPS. It turned up a few weeks later when a private citizen realized he had received the wrong disk and returned it.

It doesn’t take data flowing on the information superhighway to get lost or stolen. A majority of fraud and data loss in financial services still happens the old fashion way, and it isn’t any different in healthcare.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 12, 2008 at 9:33 AM
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EMR Blues

I thought it progressive of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to give out $50 million in grants a few years ago to medical practices to adopt EMRs. So it was interesting to see BCBSMA suggest that the financial ROI wasn’t worth the cost to doctors in medical practices.

Citing studies including an AMA report saying docs get only 11 cents of every dollar saved through the use of an EMR, BCBSMA decided not to require physicians to install an EMR to participate in its bonus program. They still however offer financial incentives to medical groups to adopt EMRs.

BCBSMA’s own cost-benefit analysis showed that CPOE made financial sense in the hospital setting. So they will require health systems to install CPOE by 2012 to participate in the bonus program.

The BCBSMA news came after a local study by the New England Healthcare Institute. It found that that CPOEs could help prevent 55,000 medication errors in MA and provide an annual cost savings of $170 million, or $2.7 million per hospital.  No surprise there, given medication errors are one of the more easily addressed problems with IT.

BCBSMA estimates it would take five to six years for an EMR to recoup its cost in an office-based practice. AMA policy supports EMRs but does not support requiring physicians to purchase them.

While I think the financial ROI aspect of EMRs is important, especially if you’re the doc paying for the system, there are other quality, safety and pay-for-performance benefits that should be considered. Understandably however, the small and medium sized medical practice has a tough time swallowing the cost of the typical EMR.

Industry is responding with cheaper, simpler, hosted solutions. Insurers continue to support and provide financial assistance.  Changes in the Stark Law are allowing hospitals to provide free or discounted systems to their network practices. And perhaps government will start providing tax incentives.

Massachusetts may pass legislation that would provide $175 million in grants to physicians to adopt EMRs.  This may change MA insurers perspective on EMRs and bonuses.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 10, 2008 at 10:17 AM
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Transparent Motives

Payers and Healthcare Transparency

In a survey of U.S. payer organizations, research firm Health Industry Insights found that more than half of respondents plan to make significant investments in transparency initiatives in 2008. According to Health Industry Insights, key payor initiatives include investments in creating electronic access to information; improving data and information processes; consolidating duplicative, redundant, or disconnected data sets to produce accurate, reliable data sources; adopting standards; and moving toward common formats.

For key survey findings on online claim payment and adjudication, cost and quality information and payor investment trends in 2008, please click on the "Continue Reading" link below.
 

Continue reading "Transparent Motives" »

Posted by Shawn Whalen on March 3, 2008 at 12:16 PM
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