Posted by Joe
| October 13, 2009
| Comments
I recently attended the USC Body Computing Conference, which was hosted by Dr. Leslie Saxon, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine.
That's me with Ed Saxon, producer of films such as "Fast Food Nation" and "Farlanders".
Dr. Saxon's speciality is in Cardiology, and she deals often with implanting devices, such as pace makers and defibrillators. Many of these devices have networking capabilities that allow doctors to monitor the health of their patients while they are away from the office. Dr. Saxon's goal is to empower patients by giving them access to personal health information, so they can make contributions and participate in their health care decisions. When speaking of implanted devices she said, "I don't know what's more yours," than the information that device transmits.
Dr. Saxon's speciality is in Cardiology, and she deals often with implanting devices, such as pace makers and defibrillators. Many of these devices have networking capabilities that allow doctors to monitor the health of their patients while they are away from the office. Dr. Saxon's goal is to empower patients by giving them access to personal health information, so they can make contributions and participate in their health care decisions. When speaking of implanted devices she said, "I don't know what's more yours," than the information that device transmits.
Patients rights to access their health information was a huge topic at the conference, stemming from an article Dr. Saxon recently wrote in the Huffington Post titled, "Owning Your Health Information: An Inalienable Right."
And she makes very valid points. I've never seen the contents of that mysterious file with my name on it. I can't check what my blood pressure was the last time I visited the office, or even how much I weighed.
And she makes very valid points. I've never seen the contents of that mysterious file with my name on it. I can't check what my blood pressure was the last time I visited the office, or even how much I weighed.
Dr. James Mault, who is the director of Health Solutions Group, Microsoft Inc., responsible for Microsoft's Health Vault, made a very clear example. He asked the audience to raise our hands if we knew that we could track a recent credit card purchase online, and nearly 80 percent of the room raised their hands. Then he asked us to keep our hands up if we could go online and look up our cholesterol records--there was only one individual with his hand still raised.
Dr. James Mault on patients' right to access their health records online.
So what I want to know is:
Do you want access to your health records online?
Do you think it is your right to own that information?
Are you surprised that we don't already have access to our records?
What are your concerns?
Sound off in the comments.
Dr. James Mault on patients' right to access their health records online.
So what I want to know is:
Do you want access to your health records online?
Do you think it is your right to own that information?
Are you surprised that we don't already have access to our records?
What are your concerns?
Sound off in the comments.
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