New Personal Health Records Change Market

The HealthVault and Google Health have already begun to impact the market and how the consumer thinks about health records today as this report indicates. With the recent partnership with Kaiser and the Microsoft HealthVault, I have already had some conversations with practices, hospitals, etc. on what are you going to do when you see an “out of network” Kaiser patient that wants to offer some health record information they have stored in their online charts? The answer was…ummmm…dunno? I mention this as to bring an awareness to be prepared for the beginning of part 1 as with the large number of Kaiser patients already familiar with accessing their records online, I would anticipate this to be one of the first scenarios to perhaps come in to play. Are you ready to accept the information and do you have a set up to facilitate this? As soon as the patients can access their Kaiser records in the HealthVault they will have the ability to choose what they want to share.

Even if you do not have a full on EHR, there are steps that one can take to at least have a temporary encrypted data storage procedure, in other words be ready so panic does not set in when the “informed Kaiser patient” arrives on your doorstep. BD

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company's report describes how the two companies will significantly alter the health care industry by bringing new tools to consumers that allow them to take a more pro-active approach in managing their health, as well as the impact they already are having on other PHR vendors. "Google and Microsoft have already had an impact on the market simply by raising consumer visibility," says John Moore, managing director. "PHR vendors are now directly experiencing the impact of this visibility with a significant increase in the number of requests for proposals from employers, providers and health plans. But with this increase in demand, consumer expectations will also rise, putting significant pressure on smaller, less capable PHR vendors and thus putting them at risk.

Report: New PHRs Change Market