Twitter Moms Flippin' for Change Contest: Go Digital Get Digital

 

Ready to talk “change”?  I Am Enabled is the social media campaign that is the driving force behind  MicroSoft's newly launched FREE beta Healthcare Management Site called  My Health Info. Its a new website for practical consumers like you and I, that incorporates Microsoft's HealthVault profiles into a more comprehensive offering, which includes user friendly tools and widgets to organize individualized, pertinent health information.

I Am Enabled and TwitterMoms is holding its first-ever “Go Digital Get Digital” Blogging Contest. It’s exciting, and it’s a great way to motivate readers and blogger alike to express their feelings about digital healthcare—and possibly win a Pure Digital Flip Camera for their efforts! I Am Enabled and TwitterMoms have teamed up to create an easy blogging contest that centers around two core requirements:

1. Create a blog post on your own blog that addresses the following 2 questions:
   
   
   
   
   
   • “How have digital health records changed how you manage you or your family’s health and/or how do you think they could change how you handle you or your family’s health?
   • “How would you use a Flip Cam to tell your story?”
   Keep in mind that the “Go Digital Get Digital” Contest is only open to legal residents of the United States and District of Columbia. You must be 18 years of age or older. The “Go Digital Get Digital” Contest has been extended until October 21, 2009. For complete contest rules, click here.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Creating a comprehensive, Electronic Health Record for every American by 2014 is and has been an important task on our nation's agenda. Electronic Health Record's, or EHRs, have set a precedent in its ability to move current, common documentation and medical files from a predominantly paper file system to a primarily electronic core ambulatory record.What this means is that if your physicians and other medical specialists are using an Electronic Health Record, all of your office visits, treatments and diagnoses will be compiled into a combined, comprehensive Electronic Health Record. This is especially important for people like me and many other Americans with chronic conditions and those who see multiple physicians. This Electronic Health Record differs significantly from another term known as an Electronic Medical Record, or EMRs,  which is simply a computerized, medical record generated at a SINGLE facility or doctor’s office that will exist solely in that doctor’s or facility’s system.
   
   
   
   
   

"Now, let’s talk Personal Health Records, or PHRs. According to NAHIT, a PHR is an electronic, cumulative record of health-related information on an individual, drawn from multiple sources that is created, gathered, and managed by an individual. The integrity of the data in the PHR and who you let see that information is up to you, the individual.
In other words, a PHR is a living document that you create and “populate” with your important personal health information, such as immunization records, dates of surgeries, dates of doctor visits, lists of allergies and allergic reactions, and lab test results. Some PHRs, like Microsoft® HealthVault™, which is a FREE service (having a personal health record online and have it readily accessible anywhere you go). It also accepts information from applications and devices that you can use to measure important information at home such as lung capacity (through a peak/flow meter), blood pressure readings, BMI, weight, blood sugar levels, as well as a myriad of other general health stats. This information can then be shared with your health practitioners if desired.
One thing to keep in mind: Patients (that would be you and/or someone you care for) can take information from an EMR (if you are granted access) or an EHR and add it to your PHR. However, most EHRs do not accept patient-generated changes. Meaning, if you want to add information, or correct information, you must go through your practitioner’s office to do so. (Which, by the way, is not a bad idea. You can read up on ePatientDave, who discovered a plethora of mistakes in his electronic medical record.)
So what’s in the future? Ideally, the use of a truly inter-operable file that contains physician data as well as patient-supplied data. When patients can provide information to physicians and document it in one locale, physicians will be armed with more real-time data than ever before and be able to evaluate conditions in ways that can make a profound difference in patient outcomes.
Initialisms aside, EHRs, EMRs, and PHRs spell serious change in how you perceive and approach your family’s health."
*My personal thoughts and ideas:
As a Mom, wife,blogger, Nurse,friend--I can honestly say that I am excited and it’s about time that technology has afforded us the opportunity to do something about managing and organizing people’s complete health records. I see a promising future that includes this use of social media and the web that will help make doctor visits more pain-free for myself, my family, and many other folks out there.
I think a big step would be the compilation of individual, complete --and when I say complete--I mean life time-- medical records, for everyone--from birth to death. Being able to have a Personal Health Record like My Health Info at my disposal for myself ,my family, and my patients would be beyond priceless. I for one see these specialists on a regular basis; an Internist, a Hematologist, a Cardiologist, a Gynecologist, an Orthopaedist, etc. Though these practitioners are very competent, they don't all communicate with each other. Case in Point: My Internist wouldn't have approved of the NSAID's that the Orthopaedist had prescribed based on the fact that NSAID's are blood thinners and could spell ulcerative trouble for someone already prone to stomach ulcers.etc, etc, etc. This happens to millions of people, errors, fatalities, insurance billing issues are the end result of medical miscommunication. Having portabilty and accessibility with real time, consistent, accurate personal health information is a necessity to prevent mistakes that can have dire consequences.
All too often than not, (and I see it every time when I am at work--caring for my pre and post operative patients) and many other folks are clueless as to the medications, practitioners, and specialists that they see. As a New York transplant myself, I live in a "Military town" which is very transient. Keeping track of validated and current personal health information is essentially crucial for families that are constantly on the go. I feel that people need to be more knowledgeable, involved and empowered about their direct medical care, decisions and medical histories. I think it would be great if integrated Personal Health Records could be encased within a special, encrypted identification card that could be "scanned" or "swiped" much like a credit card at a computer terminal. I think its convenient and useful that the Microsoft® HealthVault™  site allows caregivers to access profiles of multiple family members at one time, and delivers health news based on topics of interest. I know this would be especially useful to me and my family if it were available on mobile devices as well.Having access to the Microsoft® HealthVault™  PHR demonstrates how technology is continuously evolving and adapting to provide consumers with the relevant technological tools that they need to make more informative decisions in support of their health and that of their loved ones.
*I would use a Flip-cam to make a creative production using some form of animation or even claymation. I would chronicle the lives of a young couple as they go about lifestyle and personal health changes that include the birth of their children all they way through their elder years. Throughout the chronology, their would be a few humorous anecdotes and several highlights of the Microsoft® HealthVault™   PHR as it would be relevant and pertinent to each stage of their life.I would be sure to include the facts that demonstrate how Digital Health Records contribute directly to significant improvements in primary care treatment.*

I encourage my loyal Multiple Blessings readers to post any thoughts or questions about this topic, or perhaps consider for yourself..." How have digital health records changed—or could change—how you manage your family’s (or even extended family’s) health?" Please share your thoughts here and perhaps consider entering this " Go Digital Get Digital" contest for yourself, here.  

*I have not received any sample products, services or monetary compensation in relation to my thoughts in regards to this review . I was not reimbursed in any way. The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and are for the purpose of entering into the aforementioned competition, because this is a subject that I feel strongly about. I would like to thank TwitterMoms for affording me this opportunity to express my opinions*

 *Disclosure: As the owner of this site, I am sometimes compensated to provide my opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though I may have received compensation for certain content/review posts or advertisements, I always give my honest opinions based on my own thorough research, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics, products or services. The views and opinions expressed on this site are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the company, provider or party in question. As the owner of this site, I respect my readers and contributors privacy, and will NEVER spam, sell, or rent any aspect of readers/contributors personal information. EVER.