Bookmark & ShareFor Immediate Release: 03/16/2009
Contact: Dave Wasser 360-923-2711
Washington State - First in the Nation for Consumer Managed Health Record Banks
Bellingham, North Central Washington, and Spokane Begin Enrolling Patients for Online Access to Health Information Using Community-based Solutions in Conjunction with Microsoft® HealthVaultTM and Google HealthTM.
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) today announced the launch of three Consumer Managed Health Record Bank pilot projects in three regions of the state;
- Bellingham-based St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and The Critical Junctures Institute,
- Cashmere-based Community Choice Healthcare Network, and
- Spokane-based Inland Northwest Health Services.
Health Record Banks provide patients an opportunity to securely store personal health information in one location using Web-based tools available from both Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health. These online portals link patients to their Health Record Bank account where they can create, view, verify and share a copy of their health information. These pilots will be one of the first Health Record Banks in the United States that allow patient control.
“This pilot enables individuals to begin building a lifelong asset that can assist in improving medical decisions, reduce wasteful spending, and increase quality of care," said Peter Neupert, corporate vice president for Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group. "We view this effort as an important step in making information available to connect all points of the health ecosystem including hospitals, physicians, and the home environment."
“We’re getting patients involved, which will help ensure accuracy of their records,” said Washington Governor Chris Gregoire. “This helps patients become active participants in their health care, and helps improve the quality of care they receive. It’s the kind of innovation in health care that has become a hallmark for Washington.”
The pilots received $1.7 million in state grants to test the viability, value and use of personalized online health records. The state funds were made available through legislation and the recommendations of Governor Gregoire’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care which advocates the use of technology for sharing information between patients and providers so that they can better manage their health care and reduce the cost of redundant procedures.
“We’re providing a new tool that will empower consumers to take an active role in their health care and make better health care decisions,” said Steve Hill, Administrator of the Health Care Authority.
“The consumer-managed Health Record Bank model will change health care as we know it and we want to keep-up the momentum. I think having three established pilots will greatly increase Washington State’s chance to receive federal stimulus funds from the Obama Administration, which supports the Health Information Technology and Health Information Exchange initiatives that our Health Record Bank pilots address,” said Hill.
Thousands of Washington residents are expected to enroll in one of the three pilots in the first three months. The pilots will survey participants and provide survey data to HCA for analysis, with a preliminary pilot evaluation summary available in July 2009.
Go to www.hca.wa.gov/hit for more information about the HCA Health Record Bank pilot projects. To find out more about the pilots and how you might get involved visit www.AccessMyHealth.org, a partnership of Washingtonians exploring ways to improve patients’ access to their personal health information through health record banks.
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Washington State Health Record Bank Pilot Contact Info:
Health Care Authority: Juan Alaniz, Project Manager Health Record Banking Project, 360-923-2726, juan.alaniz@hca.wa.gov
Community Choice, PHCO: Jesus Hernandez, Executive Director, 509-782-5030, Jesus.Hernandez@CWHS.com
Inland Northwest Health Services: Nicole Stewart, Media Contact, 509-232-8131, stewarn@inhs.org.
St. Joseph Hospital Foundation: Lori Nichols, Director, 360-305-2507, lnichols@hinet.org
Microsoft Health Vault: Bill Reid, FACHE Director, HealthVault Platform Strategy, Health Solutions Group, 425-705-8908, bill.reid@microsoft.com
Google Health: Missy Krasner, Google, 650-253-3246, missy@google.com
