The “P” in HIPAA stands for “Portability.” With this, a patient has the right to view his or her electronic or paper medical records via any reasonable method he or she chooses.

According to an article by Diana Manos, Senior Editor of Healthcare IT News, the debate comes in regarding how much control control patients should be able to have over their health records. Experts say, “policies that require too much patient control could hamper a patient’s health in a medical emergency, while others said not enough control could put their lives at risk in other ways.”

Check out more of Manos’ article:

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New FTC rule requires physicians, hospitals to help deter identity theft

Ms. “Castro was finishing the paperwork to buy her first home when the bank called to warn her of a problem – nearly $10,000 in unpaid hospital bills on her credit report. The charges were for several ear, nose and throat procedures done at hospitals in her region. But they weren’t for her.”

She was an insured medical student, and the charges had been there for several years. A thief had used her personal data to get medical care.

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Medicare beneficiaries use the internet according to Kaiser Permanente. The California-based healthcare organization surveyed 4,560 seniors. These patients used computers, and researched chronic conditions and prescriptions. 87 percent of those surveyed were satisfied with the technology.

“The extraordinarily high satisfaction rate of the survey respondents – all 65 and older – reinforces what we are learning among the general population: When a PHR like My Health Manager is thoughtfully designed for an easy and convenient user experience, individuals will engage more fully in managing their own health, said Jan Oldenburg, senior practice leader of the Internet services group health portfolio at Kaiser Permanente.”

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Do you ask for the cost of a repair or an item prior to buying it? Then why don’t many of us ask about the cost of our health care?

“According to a recent survey by Consumer Reports National Research Center, only 31 percent of Americans have tried to negotiate the price of their medical bills” but, research shows that your effort to do so can be successful. Here are 5 ways to lower your medical bills:

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“A new study suggests that patients are open to having electronic medical records play a more central role in their care.

A research team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston led the study to determine how patients feel about converting to EMRs. Key findings suggest patients want full access to all of their medical records, are willing to make some privacy concessions in the interest of making them transparent and fully expect that computers will play a major role in their medical care, even substituting for face-to-face care.”

People know that information technology will change their everyday lives. The introduction of technology such as iPhone, Facebook and Google Maps has only served to heighten the publics’ awareness that healthcare will become the next industry to experience change. Attitudes towards electronic personal health records and other emerging health technologies will play a central role in their card. Patients was customized medical information to help doctors manage their healthcare.

Patients expect technology to “watch over them,” monitor their health and give them “real-time feedback.” They also expect computers to act as “personal coaches, and to foster self-care.”

Source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/study-reveals-patients-attitudes-toward-emr-conversion

“A five-year ongoing study involving 10 large physician practices across the country has so far shown improved quality of care for chronic disease patients from the use of health information technology.”

The Medicare Physician Group Practice Demonstration study was launched by CMS to allow doctors to demonstrate that coordinated and proactive care can help patients and save revenue.

The Geisinger clinic and the University of Michigan Family Practice Group were two practices that showed improvements in at least 29 or the 32 quality measures which were followed in the third year of the study.

Electronic health records were use to enhance care consistency and reliability, as they especially related to diabetes and coronary care. Congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease both carry a very high risk of emergency hospitalization and other high-cost care if not carefully managed. Costs were managed by focusing on hw patients transition between car settings and by proactively reach out to ensure that that understand the information provided and the next steps which could make a substantial impact on their lives.

Source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/demo-shows-it-critical-improving-care-patients-chronic-diseases

“EHR adoption and finances remain the top challenges facing medical practices, according to a new survey from the Medical Group Management Association.”

Medical Professionals voiced their opinions via surveys bout several challenges they face while trying to keep their practices financially profitable.

The professionals say that the top 3 challenges are:

• 1. Operating costs rising more quickly that revenues
• 2. Maintaining their income in light of diminished reimbursements
• 3. Choosing and using electronic health records.

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John Moore of Chillmark Research responds to a broader blog post by Scott Shreve about Google Health being irrelevant. John writes, “that Google Health has been nothing more than a distraction to the broader market.”

Scott writes, “I guess my point is that I love the innovation machine that is Google. I am just profoundly disappointed at what appears to be a lack of commitment by the organization to truly invest and innovate in the health care space. Is it a strategy question? An opportunity cost situation? Why the paralysis?”

This pretty much confirms what my friend said Google had slowed down on the health piece. Seems they are more hype than substance.

I’ve saved this article for a while now. David Hamilton of BNET Healthcare writes of the five major challenges of the healthcare industry.

1. The U.S. healthcare system delivers both too little and too much care.
2. Doctors are paid to perform procedures, not to make patients healthy.
3. Health plans make money by insuring healthy people, not sick people.
4. No one knows which medical treatments actually work best for patients.
5. Patients demand more care than they want to pay for.

Check out what he has to say, here: http://industry.bnet.com/healthcare/10005/five-major-challenges-for-a-2-trillion-industry/

In a Bloomberg commentary, Betsy McCaughey writes “Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan.”

“Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.” Betsy McCaughey recommends that no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions without discussion, and that Senators should vote against them because they are dangerous to our health.

“The bill’s health rules will affect ‘every individual in the United States’…Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.” But Ms. McCaughey says the bill goes farther.

She states that the federal government will mandate what treatment is appropriate and cost effective, and doctors will give up autonomy.

New Penalties

“Hospitals and doctors that are not ‘meaningful users’ of the new system will face penalties.” Will these penalties deter a doctor from doing what he thinks best? Tom Daschle, in his 2008 book “Critical: what We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis”, has suggested that the goal is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs, and says that Americans expect too much from their healthcare system.

Daschle says that health-care reform “will not be pain-free”. Seniors will be impacted and services will be rationed as cost-effectiveness becomes a priority. President Obama has called for more scrutiny. Healthcare should be treated as a growth industry, and not just a cost problem.

Is she right? Is she wrong? What are your thoughts?