Microsoft launches HealthVault, a Consumer-targeted Online Health Record Application

SUMMARY:  Microsoft launched a new technology platform called HealthVault on Oct 4. It will enable consumers to store, retrieve and review their healthcare information on the Web. About 40 partners for HealthVault was also unveiled. Among them are the American Heart Association, Johnson & Johnson, Polar, maker of heart rate monitors, MedStar Health, and Allscripts

New York State Joins the Nation with Online Health Quality Data Reporting

SUMMARY:  The New York State Health Accountability Foundation posted online a statewide report card that offers consumers county-level information on hospitals and insurance companies. The hospital information section list key performance metrics such as mortality rates, average length of stay, staffing level at ICU, and charges for dozens of procedures. Insurance companies are rated on implementation of preventive care benefits, including smoking cession, breast cancer screening, etc.

Tennessee Uses Hospital Price Web Site To Push Transparency

SUMMARY:  The Tennessean reported on April 23 that the Tennessee Hospital Association has begun posting on a new Web site the prices for common procedures at most of the state's 136 acute care hospitals. The site, called Tennessee Hospitals Inform, lists the average prices for most common procedures using hospitals' annual reports to the state from October 2003 through September 2004.

Revolution Health Consumer Web Site Set To Launch

SUMMARY:  The New York Times reported on April 16 that Revolution Health Group has launched its consumer Web site that features information on 1,500 medical conditions that can be sorted by illness or treatment, as well as a directory of physicians that will include short reviews written by patients. The site also will include information from the Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic. Users will be able to create their own pages to store personal information and can share it with others if they choose to and maintain electronic health records on the Web site, according to Steve Case, the former America Online CEO and now Revolution Health's Chairman. The company eventually will sell services such as helping patients resolve disputes with health insurers.

Illuminas Survey Finds Physicians HavenÂ’t Really Embraced e-Health

SUMMARY:  One Cisco-sponsored consumer survey reveals that one in three Americans report that the Internet "has changed the way I go about managing and maintaining my health.” The Illuminas study also found that sixty-two percent of the respondents have used online health tools and more than half, 56 percent, reported an improvement in their health management due to personal technology. While many Americans said they use the Internet to manage their health, they also reported that most physicians appear slow to utilize it. Sixty-two percent said that their doctor doesnÂ’t offer Internet-based tools such as the ability to directly email them, schedule an appointment online, or check a website with information on the practice or doctors credentials. And only 27 percent responded that medical providers have fully embraced the Internet to deliver health information and services.

American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine investigates strategies for controlling heart disease

SUMMARY:  The physicianÂ’s important role in recommending lifestyle changes in addition to medical interventions is thoroughly explored in the headline article of the second issue of the new American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM). An estimated 75% of Americans seek medical advice from their doctors each year, confirming that health care workers wield significant influence over their patientsÂ’ lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, physicians tend to underestimate their role as health counselors and donÂ’t always suggest controlling heart disease risk factors, such as smoking, high cholesterol and blood pressure, obesity, and inactivity.

Internet Helps Consumers Get the Right Price

SUMMARY:  The New York Times reported that As health costs continue to increase and more consumers enroll in high-deductible health plans and health savings accounts, the Internet can be a big help to reveal the "surreal world" of health care prices. Reimbursements decided upon by providers and health plans are kept fairly secret, and consumers rarely receive any price information before they are treated. But the Web site Vimo.com uses Medicare data to project the fees insurers negotiate for hospital procedures. For example, the site estimates that a cornea implant at one hospital in Philadelphia is $15,000, while the reimbursement rate insurers negotiate is closer to $4,700. Nationally, the reimbursement rate is $3,900, according to Vimo. Another site, My Medical Control, reviews consumers' physician and hospital bills for them and determines whether the patient has been billed at the proper price. If not, a company representative calls the provider and bargains. My Medical Control's database lists wholesale reimbursement rates insurers pay for thousands of medical procedures, asserting to know the lowest rate a hospital or clinic has given for a specific service.

Google Enters Partnership To Support Free EHRs

SUMMARY:  The San Francisco Chronicle reported on March 16 that Practice Fusion, a San Francisco startup, plans to work with Google to offer a free Web-based electronic health record system to physicians and medical groups. EHR systems typically cost physicians at least $20,000 to install, but Practice Fusion, which also offers practice management tools, plans to offer an ad-supported EHR software by partnering with Google's AdSense network. When a physician uses the EHR system, AdSense will recognize certain keywords and will display ads related to that condition. The keywords are limited to a patient's condition, diagnosis or treatment, and advertising is intended to be discreet, according to the Chronicle, Ryan Howard, CEO of Practice Fusion, added that the company will comply with federal privacy laws and protect patient data.

Medical Blogging by Physicians Sparks Privacy, Liability Debate

SUMMARY:  The Detroit Free Press reported on March 14, 2007 that online blogs are adopted by physicians across the country to express observations and opinions about patients. But critics of the trend say medical blogs threaten patient privacy and pose liability risks for health care professionals and their employers. Anonymity is the major attraction for the increased use of blogs, in which physicians and other health care workers can write on uncontroversial topics, but some others use the outlet to discuss patients, sometimes in graphic or crude detail, according to the Free Press. The surge in medical blogs touches up a grey area where medical boards, schools and professionals have not agreed on what is acceptable yet. Critics of medical blogs say they could compromise patient privacy, pose liability for hospitals and ultimately damage the medical profession as a whole.

IT Plays Key Role in New Health Care Model

SUMMARY:  The American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Osteopathic Association are fostering adoption of a new care model based on the principle of patient-centered medical home (PC-MH) model. The four physician groups agree that IT will play a key role in a new practice-based care model for providing comprehensive primary care in the United States, Healthcare IT News reported on March 12.
The new care model would require multiple changes in the health care system to improve patient outcomes, representatives from the physician groups said. The groups outlined four principles for the model, including one that called for patient care to be facilitated by registries, health care IT and health information exchanges to ensure that patients receive care. The PC-MH principles also describe a new payment framework that would take into consideration the transformed nature of care at the practice level. The new framework would support payment for physician adoption and use of healthcare IT, and would “recognize the value” of a physician’s participation in the remote monitoring of a patient’s chronic condition.

Henry Ford Health System Tests Online Visits

SUMMARY:  Henry Ford Health System in Michigan is testing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a Web portal for online consultations. The MedSeek's eVisit tool allows patients and physicians to send questions and responses about nonemergency medical issues. Patients also can use eVisit's MyHealth portal to view lab results, order prescription refills and schedule appointments. The health system has not conducted enough eVisits to determine its cost-effectiveness, according to Diane Sayers, associate medical director in Henry Ford's Northern Region. She also cautioned that the success of eVisits hinges on “the physician buy-in and the patient confidence.”

Health Care Social Networking Web Sites Taking off

SUMMARY:  An article from Health-IT World on Feb 7, 2007 examined several prominent social networking Web sites targeting health care, including DailyStrength.org, Revolution Health, OrganizedWisdom, and Sermo. The article explained that much of the "steep traffic growth" to health care social networking stems from search engines and user referrals. OrganizedWisdom reported over 1.3 million visits last month, some of which were re-routed from 35 condition-specific Web sites. DailyStrength reported 120,000 unique visitors and 20,000 registered users.

Web Site Lets Consumers Compare Washington State Hospitals

SUMMARY:  The Washington State Hospital Association on January 25, 2007 launched a new Web site that lets consumers compare cost and quality at the state's 97 hospitals
The Web site includes hospital-specific charges for about 500 types of hospital treatments, reports. It also includes hospital-specific quality measures for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia treatment, as well as for infection prevention. Residents also can access on the Web site the number of patients cared for under each service, average patient stays and payment data, such as charity care and government reimbursement levels. The site, however, cannot be used to determine how much a patient's hospital bill will be because of variations in insurance plans.

AOL Founder Debuts Health Venture

SUMMARY:  Steve Case, founder of America Online, launched RevolutionHealth.com on Jan 22, 2007. The Website will provide at no cost certain features, such as disease information, articles and forums. But premium services will be provided on a subscription basis. Subscribers eventually will pay about $100 annually for such services as telephone consultation and digital record. Revolution envisions a time when users will have online "health dashboards" that they use to manage their information.

Pennsylvania Health Systems Use Online Patient Scheduling

SUMMARY:  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on January 10, 2007 that West Penn Allegheny Health System and Heritage Valley Health System in Pennsylvania allow their patients to schedule diagnostic tests online. West Penn's service, called Sched-uleConnect, links patients from the health system's Web site to a secure site for scheduling the tests. A scheduler also calls patients to confirm the time and date of the tests. Approximately 350 patients have used West Penn's system, and officials expect the number to grow considerably.

Consumers Seek Surgery Cost Information Online

SUMMARY:  The Internet is "exploding with medical information that was mostly secret just years ago," CBS' "Evening News" reports. According to CBS, patients eventually could "shop for surgery like they shop for cars" by ordering cost reports, including a procedure's list price, discounted insurance price and estimated copayments from Web sites, such as HealthGrades.com.
HealthGrades has begun selling medical-cost reports to consumers. Patients enter information such as their ZIP code, age, gender and insurance details, and HealthGrades for $7.95 generates a report that includes the average list price of procedures in the consumer's area. The report lists prices with and without insurance.

Web Site Assesses Patients' Disease Risks

SUMMARY:  The Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention created a new Web site that allows users to calculate their risks of developing 12 different cancers, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and osteoporosis. Visitors to the site complete surveys with questions about their age, gender, lifestyle habits, environment and other factors that can influence health, and the Web site's online tool assesses how each individual's risk compares with the rest of the population. The site also creates a customized action plan demonstrating how changes in lifestyle habits could affect a person's disease risks.

Online Tools Aid Health Care Decisions

SUMMARY:  As health care costs continue to shift to consumers, patients can use Web-based tools to find the health plan that best meets their needs and to access cost and quality information on physicians, hospitals, medications and services. Patients also can go online to search provider directories, check claims status or switch physicians. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said that there are limits to online health tools but that the tools are "groundbreaking first attempts."

Workers will spend more on health care

SUMMARY:  National health-care costs are rising at the slowest pace this decade, but they're still going up fast enough to offset a portion of many people's pay raises in the coming year, according to projections by one of the nation's largest benefits consultants, Hewitt Associates. On average, employees nationwide will see raises of 3.7 percent in 2007, but employees also are projected to spend an extra $240 in higher premiums and out-of-pocket expenses on health care.

Aetna Unveils Interactive PHRs

SUMMARY:  Aetna launched an interactive personal health record that provides its members with online access to their health data and sends personalized messages to members and physicians. The PHR uses the CareEngine System by Aetna's stand-alone firm ActiveHealth Management. The system matches members' health data and claims information with "highly respected sources of medical literature," and it alerts members and physicians "about possible urgent situations" and ways to improve their health care. The online PHRs can be updated by members to include information, such as hereditary diseases or conditions and over-the-counter prescription drugs that they take, according to Aetna.