Friday, August 29, 2008

Beth Israel taps Microsoft for records access

By Stephen DeSantis

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has expanded its patient controlled health records portal, PatientSite, by teaming up with Microsoft Corp.’s Healthvault, a similar portal that aggregates data from any health-care source. It is one of the first large hospitals in New England to share patient data with platforms like Healthvault or Google Health.

Such programs are intended to help hospitals retain patients, reduce duplication of medical testing and significantly cut back on time-consuming administrative calls. The partnership with Microsoft was orchestrated by John Halamka, chief information officer at both BIDMC and Harvard Medical School.

Halamka noted that patient-controlled records can reduce the chance of medical errors and malpractice lawsuits. Informed patients are less likely to litigate it seems, he hinted.

PatientSite makes it possible for Beth Israel patients to access to their health records and test results online. It also allows them to input medical history, e-mail their doctors, update prescriptions and schedule appointments.

“Most hospitals are reluctant to share their private data, mostly out of fear. PatientSite is really great if you have 100 percent of your records at Beth Israel Deaconess, but most patients also have records at labs or pharmacies or other hospitals,” said Halamka. Using Healthvault allows the patient to access that data securely anywhere they might be in the health care system, Halamka added.

Halamka’s mantra is that “Patient’s should be stewards of their own medical data.” That led to Halamka’s decision to share, with patient consent, Beth Israel’s patient information with a universal database like Healthvault.

“We are extremely pleased to see this model diffusing and being implemented by local hospitals. This is a trend that is definitely going to continue,” Kenneth Mandl, a member of the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP) at Children’s Hospital in Boston.