Greenway PrimeSUITE Medical Records Integrates With Microsoft HealthVault

The Greenway EHR medical records system is based on Microsoft .NET technologies so this makes sense to combine the technologies and Greenway is also a Microsoft Gold Partner so the relationship with their technologies has been long standing with remote access available for physicians with the EHR  and for the patients via a portal .

PrimeSUITE is the name of the medical records system that is certified and falls under the stimulus rules that allows doctors to collect incentives for installing and using the system.  PrimePATIENT is the portion where patients can access their medical information via the portal.  It appears the integration makes the process quite simple with both the patient and physician establishing their own HealthVault accounts.  A Continuity of Care standard is used to import records into HealthVault. 

The nice part about the integration here is that the patient maintains control over what is shared and what information they want in their PHR.  The PrimePATIENT portal already allows patients to go online to schedule appointments, pay bills and request refills on prescriptions.  As always I have a link to Microsoft HealthVault on this site to make it easy to learn more and there’s an entire section at the Medical Quack that covers a ton of information on PHRs with over 400 blog posts and you can read more here.  You can also search the Medical Quack just by using the keyword “HealthVault” and there’s ton of posts that will come up for additional information. 

HealthVault also allows a patient to store images in their account

and you can read more at the link below on how this works with an “image reader” included with the desktop software.  The value here is let’s say you recently had some imaging screening or testing completed, once stored in your HealthVault account the patient has the option to share with their doctor and it’s all stored in the Azure cloud. 

HealthVault Begins Storing Medical Images (Dicom) Using Windows Azure Cloud Services With Full Encryption

It’s also worth mentioning that the HealthVault connector works on the Windows Phone as well so mobility and access are all present.  As mentioned above, this makes sense as Greenway is built on Microsoft technologies.  BD

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CARROLLTON, Ga.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., today announced pilot integration of Microsoft HealthVault data aggregation and mobility to providers utilizing the company’s electronic health record (EHR), practice management and interoperability solution PrimeSUITE®.

Through PrimeSUITE’s integrated and secure online portal, PrimePATIENT®, patients can create and access a HealthVault account to gather, store and manage centralized and sharable health information.

The combined data is sharable with other providers regardless of EHR systems if HealthVault integration is also present, or through permissible PrimeSUITE data exchange directly into EHRs and health information exchanges.

http://www.greenwaymedical.com/solutions/prime-suite/

Technorati Tags: PHR,Microsoft,HealthVault,medical records,Health IT,Greenway

MMRGlobal Working With NHS Trust Hospital On Agreement to Launch Personal Health Records

You can read the entire press release at the source link at the bottom for additional details.  St. Helens is a teaching hospital in the UK.  Personal Health Records have been slow to catch on but you can read a related post below on some of the other inroads being made here in the US. 

MyMedicalRecords PHR 30 Day Account To Be Offered at Mickey Fine Pharmacy Chain in California

 

If you have kept up with the NHS medical records business over the years they have had a bit of mess with creating a solution for patients.  One of the more embarrassing events took place back in 2009 with a USB drive being left on the car seat with encrypted data on the drive, but the login and passwords were taped on the drive.  In all of healthcare, security has been a big issue so it’s time for the patient to make some moves here to be sure they have their medical information saved and available.   

If You Take the Time to Encrypt Medical Information – Don’t Tape the Passwords on the Container or Flash Drive – NHS Security Breach

You can read more at the MMR website on how the “professional” version works with providers in bridging the gap with patients and doctors creating and having access to their personal health records.  BD

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LOS ANGELES, CA, Jun 11, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- MMRGlobal, Inc. MMRF +0.77% ("MMR") today announced that it has agreements in place to launch the Company's health IT products and services in Europe. MMR plans on installing its MMRPro document management and imaging system in St. Helens Hospital in the United Kingdom ( www.sthk.nhs.uk ). As a result of the Company's existing relationships and agreements with Kodak distributors, Chartis and others, MMR is expanding in the UK and France, which will also include its MyMedicalRecords Personal health Record (PHR).

In Australia, MMR is working with its licensee VisiInc PLC to market Personal Health Records to government, healthcare professionals and consumers. The Visi PHR will incorporate Personal Health Record patents issued in Australia and owned by MMR. There continues to be significant movement regarding the adoption of PHRs in Australia. Starting July 1, 2012, patients will be able to opt-in and register to have an eHealth record where they can create their health summary, such as listing their medications and allergies. The entire process is projected to take as long as 10 years, which underscores the value of MMR's patents and the VisiInc relationship.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mmrglobal-moving-into-europe-with-mmrpro-and-mymedicalrecords-2012-06-11

AARP and Microsoft HealthVault Connect Personal Health Records

If you read here often enough then you know I have a complete section on PHRs (personal health records) and now AARP is also connecting to Microsoft HealthVault.  The PHR is provided free of charge and when you take a look at the FAQ page additional instructions are given on how to get started. 

The “sharing” portion of the medical records all takes place via HealthVault.  You are also free to create and establish your own PHR directly with HealthVault as well.  Interesting on the FAQ page about signing in with Facebook connect…in my own personal use, I use my own sign on but the question is answered here with using that specific log on.  One more item worth noting is that you can also store medical images in HealthVault and it has a nice handy Dicom viewer too. 

HealthVault Begins Storing Medical Images (Dicom) Using Windows Azure Cloud Services With Full Encryption

Multi-Media Data Sharing Comes to HealthVault PHR–Store and Share Your Endoscopic Videos From Physicians

 

As always the Medical Quack provides a link to HealthVault to get started and read additional information on how it all works. Just look under the resources area for more information and you can also check out the over 400 posts I have with a full history on PHRs here.  BD 

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Press Release:

 

WASHINGTON — June 5, 2012 — AARP and Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of AARP Health Record, a security-enhanced online service designed to help people over 50 manage and improve their health.  This new tool enables users to enter, store and edit their personal health information in a central location and to share it selectively with caregivers, family members, doctors and other healthcare providers.

 

Health Record, which is free to AARP members, makes it easy to create and maintain security-enhanced, up-to-date electronic records that can be accessed from an Internet connection. By storing all of their health information in one location, members can partner more effectively with their doctors and other healthcare providers, be better prepared for emergencies and reduce wasteful and redundant paperwork.

 

“AARP Health Record is designed to help our members better manage their health so they can focus on the things they care about most — enjoying the happiness and peace of mind that comes from living life to the fullest.” said AARP Vice President Nicole Duritz. “In today’s digital environment, AARP Health Record is the right resource at the right time.”

 

AARP Health Record will focus on giving AARP members a convenient way to track and manage basic health information, such as blood type, drug allergies, medications, and personal and family health history as well as emergency and provider contact information. Users can also print and carry an easy-to-read wallet card with their vital health statistics.  The tool is available in both English and Spanish.

 

AARP Health Record connects to Microsoft HealthVault, a privacy- and security-enhanced online platform that enables individuals to compile and store personal health information from multiple sources in a single location, and to create additional profiles for their spouse, children, aging parents or anyone whose health they need to monitor or help manage. HealthVault account holders can select among hundreds of connected health and wellness applications to monitor chronic conditions and share data with their doctors, or track progress against wellness or fitness goals.  For example, AARP members will be able to import prescription history from a HealthVault-connected pharmacy — like CVS Caremark or Walgreens — into their AARP Health Record, or choose to enter prescriptions manually.

 

“AARP is a trusted source of health information for millions of Americans, and AARP Health Record will establish the organization as a leader in helping people navigate the healthcare system,” said Nate McLemore, General Manager, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. “With this new tool, AARP will increase its value to members by offering them a better way to manage their health and the health of their families.”

 

AARP Health Record is part of a broader vision of AARP to develop online tools and services specifically tailored to AARP members and all people 50-plus, helping them manage their medications and chronic conditions and navigate the health system.

 

“This is the future of health care,” said Duritz. “Our members need information that is current and convenient, so they can ask smart questions and communicate effectively with the health-care system, whether they are in their doctor's office or halfway around the world on vacation. Health Record is a great resource for our members to use when interacting with the medical system—whether for themselves, their kids or their aging parents and other loved ones.”

 

AARP Health Record is available at www.aarp.org/healthrecord and http://www.aarp.org/mihistorialdesalud.

MyMedicalRecords PHR 30 Day Account To Be Offered at Mickey Fine Pharmacy Chain in California

Who says the old traditions don’t mix with the new, and here’s an example of what is said to be the last pharmacy with a soda fountain in the store.  If you under around 40 years old, you won’t know what one looked like as pharmacies today don’t have them any longer.  MMR Global as you all know gained nationwide recognition over stocks and shares and the Hollywood suicide that occurred.  Sometimes people say any publicity is good but in this case with getting the financials in order the company did get some press.  At any rate if you have never heard of Micky Fine it’s in Beverly Hills and is a landmark.  The Medical Quack has pretty large section all about PHRs and it goes back to the beginning of when both Google and Microsoft began their programs and as we all know now Google Health is no longer around and at one point MMRGlobal connected with Google Health as well.  BD 

MMR Global PHR Law Suits and Patents–Company That Drew Attention With the Russell Armstrong Suicide in Hollywood

 

A very good target market for personal health records is seniors and I know that for a fact as a few years ago when I was guest speaker at the Computer Friends Group in Newport Beach, a senior tech group (and yes they exist) that was one of the first questions they asked about was having access and copies of their medical records, and let’s face it a we get older, more of us might see the importance as well.  The second most important topic the seniors asked me about if you look at the link below will tell you they wanted to know about speech recognition and mind you this was back in 2008 and my friends at Nuance will appreciate that plug for sure as look where we are today. 

Microsoft Speech Recognition Presentation - Computer Friends at the Oasis - Newport Beach, CA

I have mine and my mother’s records all together and with all of her medications and documents in one spot it sure is convenient for me since we don’t live real close. Today is the first day of offering, May 10th. In addition to their interest in medical records the company also is diversified with some biotech holdings as well working in the area of clinical trials.   BD

Favrille Biotech and MyMedicalRecords.com, Inc. Announce Merger Agreement

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QualityStocks would like to highlight MMRGlobal, Inc., a publicly traded company. Through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc., the company provides secure and easy-to-use online Personal Health Records ("PHRs") and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions, serving consumers, healthcare professionals, employers, insurance companies, financial institutions, and professional organizations and affinity groups. The MyMedicalRecords PHR enables individuals and families to access their medical records and other important documents, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance policies and wills, anytime from anywhere using the Internet.

In the company’s news last week, MMRGlobal announced it will begin offering its MyMedicalRecords PHR at the Mickey Fine Pharmacy chain in Beverly Hills beginning May 10, 2012.

MMRGlobal pointed out Mickey Fine Pharmacy’s established presence in the Los Angeles area, attracting many movie stars, athletes, business leaders, and politicians. MMRGlobal’s program offer Mickey Fine customers a 30-day MyMedicalRecords.com PHR account, which covers up to 10 family members, including pets, and incorporates the company’s MyEsafeDepositBox so that users can securely store important documents, accessible from any Internet-connected device.

http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/05/08/qualitystocks-news-mmrglobal-launches-mymedicalrecords-program-mickey-fine-pharmacy

MedXCom Replaces the After Hours Answering Systems for Doctors That Pushes Patient Profile to the Cell Phone–Works With Medical Records Systems And is a PHR for the Patients…

This sounds pretty cool for the doctor to be able to get a history of surgeries, meds, allergies and so forth before talking to the patient.  We live in the information age and this was created by a doctor who of course saw the value of having information rather than playing a guessing game with memory or having to go through other procedures to get his/her hands on the medical records.  If they are in an office, on paper, well we know what that would mean for sure. 

The article states it will work with any EHR and the information is migrated to the application once the patient gives permission and is that not a breath of fresh air, patient give permission, the way it should be.  A patient only version is coming out soon which is basically a PHR that the patient can use whether or not their doctor is or is not. 

The after hour patient calls are forwarded  and the app records, archives and transcribes them.  I like that part as even with just my cell phone I have that now with messages. Patients are informed that they are being recorded.  At $29.95 a month it won’t break the bank either.  I try to put what I feel is something that is usable on the blog and this certainly fits the bill it appears. 



You can also e-prescribe through the software and do referrals with doctors who are also using the system.  I am guessing this is modular and service levels, depending upon what is chosen might raise the price a little as it appears you can use as much or as little of the features as desired.  BD 

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Michael Nusbaum rarely thought twice about giving his personal cell phone number to patients after he operated on them. Nusbaum is a bariatric surgeon at New Jersey’s Morristown Medical Center, and he wanted patients to be able to reach him easily by phone or text. But then he found out that sending text messages to patients violates federal privacy laws. Whenever patients texted him, “I wouldn’t text them back,” Nusbaum says. “I had to pick up the phone and call them so I wouldn’t violate the law.”

If a doctor is subscribed to MedXCom, after-hours calls get forwarded to his cell phone instead of an answering service. “Before I speak to you, it will push your entire health profile to my cell phone,” Nusbaum says. “I can see everything—what surgeries you’ve had, what allergies you have, the medications you’re on. I have all that information even before I take the call.” If the doctor wants to order a prescription, he can do so right through the app.

MedXCom is designed to work with any EMR. When patients agree to use the product with their doctors, their EMRs are automatically migrated into the app. Patients can then add information to the app, and they can scan and upload paper records from their visits to other doctors. They can also sign up to get reminders of routine checkups for themselves or their kids by phone or text, and they can use the app to schedule appointments.

Giffen charges physicians an average of $49 a month to use the telecommunications features of MedXCom—far less than the $250 or so they would pay per month for an answering service with a live operator, Nusbaum says. Doctors who opt out of the telecom services can still use the EMR features at no charge, and everything is free for patients, he says.

http://www.xconomy.com/new-york/2012/05/02/giffen-solutions-created-by-fed-up-doc-connects-mds-and-patients/?single_page=true

Radiology Society of North America Image Share Project Completes Phase One With Allowing Patients To Use and Store Medical Images in the Cloud–PHRs

the program has been funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH.  The next step will allow patients to share images without being uploaded to a PHR.  Normally you would want records connected of course connected to your personal health records; however in case of trauma situations this would be helpful.

Phase 3 gets a little interesting as it touches on what we all talk about today and that is privacy, as this phase will allow for the images to be used with clinical trials but they will be de-identifed.  At any rate having this available connected to a PHR now is great.  As it works now patients need to create an account and password and then are given access to images via their PHR and when you read below there’s quite a few mainstream Clinics and Hospitals working the project.   For the rest of us, Microsoft HeatlhVault can store images and Endoscopic videos.  BD 

HealthVault Begins Storing Medical Images (Dicom) Using Windows Azure Cloud Services With Full Encryption

 

 

Multi-Media Data Sharing Comes to HealthVault PHR–Store and Share Your Endoscopic Videos From Physicians

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Patients can successfully pull their medical images from the "cloud" making it faster for them to distribute them to their physicians regardless of where those physicians might be, according to a preliminary report of an image share project that involves five different academic institutions.

The image share project includes the University of California, San Francisco, University of Chicago, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, and the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY.

"The patient can arrange with their radiologists' office to have their images and the radiology reports exported into an Internet-based personal health record (PHR)," said David Mendelson, MD, principal investigator of the image share project. Once the information is in the personal health record, the patient has full control over distribution of the images and reports. Images can be viewed immediately online by signing into one's PHR. In addition, e-mail links can be sent to physicians allowing them to view and download the images and reports as needed, said Dr. Mendelson.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/arrs-isp041912.php

Personal Health Records Come In Many Flavors Today and Are Worth Having–Even If It Is Not Complete and Perfect

The article is from Information Week and I agree as I thought PHRs were great when announced.  I have a very small file but I also have my 87 year old mother with a PHR that is really good to have and we add to it from time to time and we have the basics in there, medications and allergies if nothing else are the top priorities for others to know as one or the other without enough information is enough to potentially kill or harm you with medical care.  There are both “tethered” and “non tethered” PHRs and for me, being I’m not part of a large group like Kaiser, the non tethered works for me.

I would not want one from an insurance company; however I would take all the information they had to offer in one way download file for sure.  It’s always good to see what is on file and sometimes you find mistakes too so with any PHR if you are offered information from a medical concern or insurance company that goes one way, take it.  Since Google Health and HeatlhVault started I began the section for PHRs on this blog and about 80% of the articles in that section are those two and I explored how bar coding can get in there too. 

Way back in October of 2009 I even spoke with Curtis Schroeder from Bumrungrad Hospital as they were attending the first International Tourism Conference here in Los Angeles.  I recorded the interview with my phone and this was long before all were doing live broadcasts via phone.  Since QIK has now been bought by Microsoft and Skype I noticed my video is now gone..boo..but you can read my write up here.  That’s what I get for being ahead of my time:)

Interview with Curtis Schroeder, CEO Bumrungrad International Hospital and Nate McLemore, Health Solutions at Microsoft – International Personal Health Records with HealthVault

 

Also HealthVault has a cloud imaging viewer now too and it makes it real simple.  Some ER rooms don’t even have a dicom viewer on the PCs so with this just download the program and it’s there.  We all know how expensive and time consuming imaging tests are so if you don’t have to repeat one it’s easier on the patients and less expensive as well. 

HealthVault Begins Storing Medical Images (Dicom) Using Windows Azure Cloud Services With Full Encryption

It just all depends on the individual and organizations like Kaiser Permanente pre-populate a lot of the information and thus make it easy for the patient and actually they are more of the “portal” style of a PHR.  Back in 2010 I interviewed Dr. Richards from Kaiser who spoke both of how the PHR works for patients and how the EHR coordinates for her use, a win-win. 

Kaiser Permanente Pediatrician Patricia Richards Explains How The Use of Electronic Medical Records Enhances Knowledge With Obesity and Adds Focus to the “Let’s Move” Obesity Prevention Campaign

 

Microsoft just announced today the expansion of HealthVault to Germany and another newcomer, MMRGlobal (MyMedicalRecords.com) continues to grow their PHR business with a little different business model.  They have a few different things happening and the PHR is not free but cost very little and has the capability to integrate with EMRs and they have a set up for doctor’s offices to lease to help in the set up, as well all know that’s what takes time.  They provide a full document service to get the paper in the files.  I’m kind of glad I looked over there again as it has been a while they also integrate with the Blue Button Campaign for Veterans and provide a 90 free trial of their PHR with it, not bad.  The monthly charge is $9.95 and you get some phone support…that’s nice and you can add your pets too.  I see they also have faxing which I have used with HealthVault a while back.  You can read more at the website.  BD

“MyMedicalRecords gives you the powerful ability to upload images such as x-rays, scans and MRIs into your account directly from your PC.  So in addition to documents, MMR lets you store pictures as well.

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Another reason for not using PHRs, readers said, was the inconvenience of using such programs, which require too many passwords, mouse clicks, and related hurdles. One IT pro, was commenting specifically about patient portals, said that in his experience, patients would much rather use simple email to communicate with their doctor then jump through all the hoops required to enter data into a portal. In his words, "After a year and a half of really aggressively recruiting our patients to sign up for the portal, we got only 10% signed up. My gut feeling is that the process of using the portal is just too complex and inconvenient."

That's quite a list of negatives: mistrust, apathy, inconvenience, and fear of data breaches. Will PHR providers ever overcome them all? Not anytime soon, but despite all these concerns, I still believe the benefits of a PHR outweigh its risks for many patients--especially adults with chronic disorders and the parents of children with life-threatening diseases.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/patient/232900330

And Now A Word About Medical Data Privacy-Something To Think About Today as The Data Selling Business Explodes and Accountability is Diminishing–Video

Yes this is the age old topic once again but it’s not going away.  Today with data mining and selling on the rise, it would be nice to have a federal disclosure page where all who distribute and sell data would list what and who they sell to.  You can’t make any sense today out of the very crafty written by attorneys privacy pages on websites and it’s mean to be that way.  Here’s a good example where privacy got out of hand and where Wall Street investors were looking at actual patient medical records from 3 hospitals…it was the 3rd party consultant who is now being sued, which is a good thing for all those folks who’s records were exposed.  If it was not for the stolen laptop, we would have never known.

Accretive Health Debt Collector Employee Has Laptop Stolen With Non Encrypted Patient Data from 2 Hospitals And Had Access to All the Data Via Revenue Cycling - Patient Information Was Shared With Wall Street Investors – Algorithms For Profit Again?

We actually had consent until 2002 until the government took it away and with the way data runs and is mined through out healthcare today, which is on steroids compared to the year 2002, we need it as math and algorithms confuse all of us depending on how naïve and gullible we are.

Privacy Medical Records

Depending on how honest this 3rd party was with their algorithms, people may have not received the care they needed in the name of saving money.  It is time to license and tax the folks selling data and get some transparency out there along with asking patients for their permission.  There’s tons of tax money potential there with using the Walgreens SEC 2010 statement to where they made just short of $800 million selling data, intangibles so you wonder are prescriptions just a side line business in order to capture data for sale?  Sure there are folks that say there is no privacy and in part it’s true but we can fix the US budget with the tax revenue that makes corporations rich with selling data they get for free and in the meantime consumers suffer with no privacy at all.  There needs to be a balance and soon. 

If we had disclosures that told the real story on what is sold and where it goes then could make better decisions as consumers and patients too instead of being in the dark.  Next week I’m sure we will have yet one more item in the press that says how stupid consumers are again as that topic floats in and out. 

The Alternative Millionaire’s Tax–License and Tax Big Corporations Who Mine and Sell Taxpayer Data They Get for Free From the Internet-Phase One to Restore Middle Class With Transparency, Disclosure and Money

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You can read more on the topic of “The Attack of the Killer Algorithms” at the link below but it makes corporations rich and keeps consumers poor in essence, and we do need a say in all of this.  BD

Attack of the Killer Algorithms–Digest & Links for All Chapters–How Math and Crafty Formulas Today Running on Servers 24/7 Make Life Impacting Decisions About You–Updated 3-11-2012

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The U.S. government is spending billions of dollars to help move everyone's health care records onto electronic databases. There are many good things about this: electronic health care records can be accessed from anywhere, they take up less physical space and they are very portable.

However, with these benefits come severe privacy concerns as well. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (or HIPAA, for short) claims to protect your medical data from probing eyes. The problem is, its language is weak. Your records are already an open book to millions of providers, employers, government agencies, insurance companies, billing firms, transcription services, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmaceutical companies, data miners, creditors and more. This is considered “routine” use, and is not covered by HIPAA.

In fact, in 2002 HHS actually amended the HIPAA “Privacy Rule” to eliminate the patient's “right of consent” altogether. So, you do not own your data, someone else does. It's time we changed this.

http://www.pop.org/projects/medical-privacy

Technorati Tags: privacy,medical reocrds,disclosure,transparency,heatlhcare,medical records,permission,investors,consumers,patients,doctors

Next Version of Connect Gateway for the Nationwide (NwHIN) Exchange Will be Called Connect+ Making It Easier for Organizations to Put in Place

This is a nice welcome as it will enable more providers, hospitals and so forth to connect and share medical information securely.  From a data standpoint this is interesting that the two areas of code are being separated so I am guessing we have a little bit more on the back end with changing the front end to have fewer working parts as far as creating the ability to use the NwHIN network.  Below is a map that shows some of the work in progress with practices and other healthcare IT entities connected t the NwHIN system.  BD 

Hospitals and Providers Using NHIN (Nationwide Health Information Network) To Connect and Share Medical Records With the VA and DOD And Even With Each Other

One does not need the CONNECT protocol to connect to the NwHIN but an open source project that all can contribute to is certainly a winner.  BD 

“CONNECT is an open source software and community that promotes IT interoperability in the U.S. healthcare system. CONNECT enables secure electronic health data exchange among healthcare providers, insurers, government agencies and consumer services. CONNECT 3.3 includes new features, support for new NwHIN technical specification for health information exchange, and more. “

ARLINGTON, VA – The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has made available the next version of the Connect gateway software that incorporates the most up-to date technical standards and descriptions for the nationwide health information network (NwHIN) Exchange to support functions like patient discovery and query for and retrieve documents.

Connect gateway and adapter software uses NwHIN standards and services to enable healthcare organizations and federal agencies to share patient information securely through the Internet.

We plan to separate out the gateway from the adapter lines of code, which are fairly tightly coupled. That means it’s been difficult to implement for many organizations,” Thompson said at a March 15 conference about military electronic health records (EHRs).

The NwHIN Exchange has been an organization for advanced exchange for primarily federal agencies and large healthcare organizations because of a requirement that limited participants to federal contractors or grantees.

It has 25 partners including DOD and VA, which uses NwHIN to share information at 11 virtual lifetime electronic record (VLER) sites, and the Social Security Administration, which has 300 provider organizations exchanging data to accelerate disability determinations.

More changes are coming. By December, ONC will move Connect out of its purview to a distributed development program in an open source community and is considering a variety of organizational approaches, including adopting a custodial agent process, similar to the Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments to develop their integrated EHR.

http://www.govhealthit.com/news/onc-advances-connect-exchange-tools

Technorati Tags: NwHIN,Direct Project,healthcare,medical records,VA,DOD,Social Security,code,CONNECT,partners,Connect +,aggregattion,gateway,software

Microsoft HealthVault Connects to Astra Candelis Cloud Imaging Solutions–Take Your Ultra-Sound Images With You

It was just a couple days ago I wrote about endoscopy imaging for HealthVault and now we can ultrasounds to the list of images you can store in your PHR.  One nice feature is to not have to wait for someone to prepare a DVD of images.  BD 

Multi-Media Data Sharing Comes to HealthVault PHR–Store and Share Your Endoscopic Videos From Physicians

Candelis’ ASTRA cloud-hosted suite of services is providing for the secure transferring of patient digital medical images and studies to patients’ Microsoft HealthVault accounts upon their request. 
Microsoft HealthVault is a personal health application platform that lets consumers gather, store and share health information online. 
These services benefit patients in a number of ways:

• Patients can obtain control of, archive and easily access their medical images stored in HealthVault from any Internet connection.
• Patients will have full control over their data and can grant access to family members or caregivers as they desire. As an example, expectant couples can easily share Ultrasound images of their baby with loved ones.
• Patients can avoid unnecessary duplicate imaging procedures and associated healthcare costs.

The connection of Candelis’ ASTRA Services with the HealthVault platform also benefits healthcare providers in the following ways:

• Access to past imagery can provide caregivers with more information to help improve patient care
• Costly CD/DVD publishing and distribution can be eliminated

http://www.candelis.com/products/MHV

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,HeatlhVault,PHR,heatlhcare,HealthIT,patients,medical records,imaging,ultrasound,doctors

Multi-Media Data Sharing Comes to HealthVault PHR–Store and Share Your Endoscopic Videos From Physicians

Back in August of 2011 Cook Medical announced the endoscope and it’s availability and now with the HD camera it looks like you get some really good graphics with endoscopic procedures and have the opportunity to store them in your PHR with HealthVault.  First we had the opportunity for doctors to share and collaborate and now you store your own once your doctors has made the video available.  I have several interviews over the years with Cook Medical who is the largest privately owned device and technology company in the US.  The device for the physician’s side is touch screen. 

Cook Medical Introduces Endoscope With an HD Camera Attached- Portable Imaging System for Urologists

“With high definition video and still-image capture capabilities in a compact, portable setup, endogo HD allows a physician to share and review exam findings with the patient or family immediately following the exam, at the patient’s bedside or in a waiting room. A resident can also share captures with the attending physician, which may reduce the need for repeat procedures. With the endogo HD, OR imaging capabilities can now be available throughout the facility, wherever a procedure is performed. The combination of data acquisition, storage, management and the synchronization of patient folders in an easy-to-use Web application makes it possible to send an image or video over a secured connection to a referring doctor outside the facility.”

If you do not have a HealthVault account, there’s always a permanent link on the Medical Quack to the site to find out more information, as it is right above the quick and easy utility to find clinical trials.

HealthVault also has a nice dicom viewer for Windows users and perhaps soon they will develop it for other operating system but you can store your shared dicom images in the Azure cloud with HealthVault as well.  This feature became available last April.  It is kind of surprising today if you end up in an ER room that some of them do not have a viewer on their available computers either.  You can read more at the link below on how the “connection center” works with dicom image storage and it’s not bad at all with pretty good clarity.  BD 

HealthVault Begins Storing Medical Images (Dicom) Using Windows Azure Cloud Services With Full Encryption

Envisionier, the leader in portable endoscopic capture and data integration, today announced the first endoscopic multimedia integration between Microsoft HealthVault and the eGoWorks® application. This connection enables a patient to access, view and share their endoscopic multimedia information stored within HealthVault, an online service for managing personal health information.

With a patient’s permission, surgeons using eGoWorks services will have the option to share medical image exams and associated reports directly with a patient authorized HealthVault account. Patients will generate a secure challenge and password combination that will allow the patient to “pick up” the data and move it into their personal HealthVault record.

David Guy, Envisionier’s CEO states, “By connecting with HealthVault, Envisionier seeks to improve the exchange of pertinent medical endoscopic data that has been tethered to legacy video tower systems or EMR systems unable to direct connect. The integration with HealthVault allows the patient to control their medical data ”

“Patients are the clear winners with Envisionier eGoWorks’ new HealthVault connection. Not only can individuals now easily share endoscopic multimedia and reports among members of their care team; they can also be confident that they’ll have access to the information for years to come to better detect trends and changes in their health. We’re excited to have Envisionier as an ally in our journey to empower patients to take charge of their family’s care” stated Sean Nolan, Microsoft Distinguished Engineer.
eGoWorks®’s connection to HealthVault enables electronic movement of data rather than patients transporting records, reducing time and cost associated with redundant exams while additionally creating a longitudinal endoscopic record for the patient to share with primary care physicians and specialists.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/2/prweb9168795.htm

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