Author: Dissent

Bruce Goldfarb of AIS Health writes: Individualized personal health records (PHRs) — long a holy grail of medical informatics — are poised to serve a prominent role in consumer-directed health (CDH.) Several large health plans have begun providing Web-based PHRs that give consumers powerful tools to manage their health. Coming soon, consumers will be able…

Peter Buxbaum writes in Government Health IT: The Military Health System (MHS) is about to deploy a program worldwide through which doctors and dentists can share a common electronic health record. AHLTA Dental is a component of AHLTA, the military’s EHR system. It will build on the foundation created by the medical component of AHLTA….

The Boston Globe reports: A former security guard at Rhode Island Hospital is accused of stealing identity information of emergency room patients and then opening cell phone accounts at a RadioShack store in Cranston. Michael Bermudez is charged with identity theft along with the store manager, Hector Alvarez, who prosecutors say participated in the scheme….

Charles Ornstein reports in the Los Angeles Times: UCLA Medical Center is taking steps to fire at least 13 employees and has suspended at least six others for snooping in the confidential medical records of pop star Britney Spears, who was recently hospitalized in its psychiatric ward, a person familiar with the matter said today….

Seen at the Wright County Republican web site: Please contact Governor Tim Pawlenty and other elected leaders now to tell them you oppose government ownership if DNA of newborn citizens and the distribution of baby DNA to genetic researchers without consent or legal authority. Demand the immediate dismantlement of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDA)…

Vince Kuraitis writes on e-CareManagement blog Aetna recently made another big announcement relating to their PHR. While the concept of what they’re doing is very appealing, it strikes me that health plans in general face an uphill battle in getting consumers to adopt and use personal health records (PHRs). I’ll describe 4 factors behind my…