Electronic Health Records - A good thing?

Last week Google announced that they were partnering with the Cleveland Clinic to store records of 100,000 patients online.

"The ultimate goal of this patient-centered and controlled model is to give patients the ability to interact with multiple physicians, healthcare service providers and pharmacies" says the press release.
Online Personal Health Records (PHRs) are not new. Microsoft launched HealthVault last October, and there are many other systems within private medical groups and from third-party companies.

There are two major advantages of having an online PHR:

1. Convenience: You have ready access to all your health records - at home, when traveling, in an emergency.
   
   
2. Control: You authorize who sees your records. You can ensure that your records from one doctor are immediately available to another doctor.

But there is a serious downside of online PHR: the risk of loss of privacy.

This is similar to the concern that people had about their financial records a few years ago. While online databases have been successfully hacked into, there has NOT been a rash of identity thefts from such hackings. More identity thefts take place OFFline than online.

Also, your medical records are probably already on some electronic data base within your physicians' offices and clinics. Even if they are not, there is no guarantee that your paper records are 100% protected from prying eyes.

But it's more complicated than that. Privacy watchdogs such as the World Privacy Forum point out that there are additional risks with PHRs that many people are unaware of -- for example, that storing your medical records on a third party website may not be protected under HIPAA.

Here are some of their recommendations:

• Don't assume that your medical records are protected no matter where they are stored.
  
  
• To see if a third-party PHR is covered under HIPAA, read their privacy statement, which should disclose whether they are covered or not, and also how they will use your information. "HIPAA compliant" is not enough. It should read "HIPAA covered."
  
  
• Take time to read the fine print, and pay attention to what you are authorizing and signing.

• More tips are in the document: "World Privacy Forum Consumer Advisory: The Potential Privacy Risks in Personal Health Records Every Consumer Needs to Know About"

If you want the convenience of electronic records but don't want them stored online, you can always keep your own records on your computer, on a CD or on a little thumb drive. But keep in mind that these are not 100% safe either, even when protected by a password.

Bottom line: Only you can decide if the risk of PHRs is worth the convenience.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Please take a moment to write your comments on this issue.


Pauline
teachmeinternet.com

Need help paying for medicine?

If you or someone you care about has trouble paying for medication, there is help. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a coalition of drug companies, health care professionals, patient advocacy organizations and community groups.

This website is a portal to almost 500 public and private patient assistance programs.

If you are not eligible for these programs, you can still save money on your meds by consulting cost-comparison charts at Rxaminer.

Consumer Reports also has helpful information in their Shoppers Guide to Prescription Drugs series.

And psychologist Ken Pope, Ph.D., has put together a collection of resources for finding affordable health insurance as well as free or low-cost medicine.

Pauline
teachmeinternet.com

Mind-body connection at PPA

Just got back from the annual convention of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. What great programs they had this year! The theme was The Mind-Body Connection. Two sessions on this theme were particularly interesting and enjoyable:

Dr. Sheldon Cohen, professor at Carnegie Mellon University summarized his research on who is most likely to catch a cold. He and his colleagues found that stress and and lack of friendships are more important factors than diet, exercise and other health practices. In other words, taking vitamins and supplements - and even an apple a day! - are not nearly as effective in preventing colds as nurturing friendships and learning to manage your stress. Here is a news article describing his research. And here's a link to a list of Dr. Cohen's publications.

Another session that impressed me was by Brother Bernard Seif, Ed.D. Dr. Seif is a Catholic monk, a licensed psychologist and a doctor of natural medicine and Chinese medicine. (And not surprisingly, his mp3 player is the "Creative Zen" brand....)

Dr. Seif practices complementary and alternative medicine with a scientific approach. Although it's not quite clear how certain attitudes and practices enhance one's ability to recover from serious illness, the research shows that the relationship between mind and body is definitely a major factor.

Check out these mainstream sources for articles, news and clinical trials:

• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Medline Plus
  
• National Cancer Institute
  

Pauline
teachmeinternet.com

Customized medical news by email

Are you interested in a specific medical condition or treatment? Keep up with the latest developments on your medical topic of interest by setting up news alerts.

At google.com and yahoo.com you can register to get an email whenever a story with your keyword appears in the news. But you'll probably get a lot of irrelevant or duplicate results.

Here's a better way: To get medical news by email, sign up at one or more medical websites. It's almost like having your own personal news clipping service. Here are some options:


Healthline: This specialized search engine will send you results only from pre-screened reputable sources. You can also choose your own keywords (rather than selecting from a list of medical conditions.)


Medical News Today: This U.K.-based service produces original articles from current medical news. The articles are more in-depth than those from mainstream news. Choose from among 101 topics.


Health Central: Topic-specific newsletters include tips and news.


If you are in the people-helping business and want to leverage your expertise, click here to get the recording of my recent teleseminar with marketing expert, Mark Hendricks. You'll also get a bonus of 6 audio files (9 hours) of Mark's mastermind coaching sessions.


Pauline
http://teachmeinternet.com

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If you have a tip that you'd like me to post, please email me:
drwallin at drwallin.com

Medical symptoms? What might they mean?

Medical information is one of the most popular search topics on the Internet.

Besides searching for specific diseases and treatments, you can also use symptom-search tools. You begin by searching for a symptom or group of symptoms. A series of menus helps you refine your search and hone in on diagnostic possibilities.


Here are some websites:

Healthline.com recently launched a Symptom Search tool that directs you to peer-reviewed articles based on the symptoms you specify. Select symptoms based on a checklist or by typing them into a search box.

Webmd.com's Symptom Checker offers a more visual interface in which you begin by clicking on an area of a body diagram. The process ends with an overview of symptoms, causes and treatment of one or more conditions that are associated with these symptoms.


Mayo Clinic has a checklist-based Symptom checker. As you navigate through the menus, you may also see a sidebar telling you when to seek immediate medical attention.
http://mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671


All of the above websites state that their services are not to be
considered medical diagnoses of your condition.

Nevertheless, they're quite helpful for learning more about symptoms, and for asking better questions if you do visit your doctor.


-- Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
teachmeinternet.com