Information Technology and Your Health

Lori Nichols, Whatcom Health Information Network

Members of the Patient Family Advisory Council provide input on the design of the Share Care Personal Health Record ________________________

Managing your health is anything but simple and poses frequent challenges to the average person. Have you ever had a new doctor, or reached the doctor on call and struggled to explain your health situation? Have a new medication and questions about how it works or what to do if you forget a dose? Ever have to call an ambulance for your friend or loved one and not know important information like their medications, diagnoses or doctors' names and numbers? Do you have your health information with you when you travel?

Patients in Whatcom County have worked tirelessly with a team of clinicians and web experts to design a tool that helps in those situations and more. In 2001, several organizations in the community received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded grant that charged recipients with transforming American Healthcare into a system that meets six aims: to be Safe, Effective, Efficient, Timely, Equitable and Patient-Centered.  It was the last one that got patients invited to participate in designing what could work for them. The Shared Care Plan Personal Health Record (PHR) emerged from that work, and continues to evolve into an ever more useful and comprehensive health management system.

Now patients have a way to track their own health information and keep it up to date, share it with family, friends, and caregivers. The Shared Care Plan PHR is a free, secure, online web tool that patients can easily update, also printing handy wallet-sized summaries of information they can carry with them. Access to online health information sources helps answer questions about procedures, diagnoses, medications and lab tests. Since the Shared Care Plan was designed by patients themselves, it is easy to use for anyone with even minimal computer skills. Those who don't use them, likely know someone who does!

Whatcom County is nearing completion of integration between their Shared Care Plan and the Microsoft Health Vault Platform, which will enable devices like glucometers, heart monitors and scales to download information to one’s personal Health Record and Health Vault account.

The Washington State Health Care Authority has funded three projects to pilot Consumer Controlled Health Record Banks; the Shared Care Plan Personal Health Record is one of those projects. To find out more, visit www.AccessMyHealth.org. 

We are now working with Emergency Medical Services Providers (EMS) and health care professionals in King County to encourage adoption of the Shared Care Plan. Under a grant from the Microsoft Health Solutions Group's BeWell Fund, an interface to the dispatch system is underway, so that EMS providers will be able to access this critical patient information on the way to a call.  

For more information on the work in Whatcom County visit www.wwpp.org and www.marc.community4health.com. Go to www.sharedcareplan.org to see a sample Shared Care plan. Please take a look and let us know what you think! Better yet, sign up for your own!

Lori Nichols is Director of Whatcom Health Information Network (HInet), a private intranet connecting health professionals and patients in Whatcom County, WA. A resident of Whatcom County for the last 15 years with nearly 30 years experience in clinic, hospital and payor settings, Lori now focuses on engaging patients in health and healthcare improvement, and developing tools for managing health information across health care settings including the patient's home.