Massachusetts Insurer Partners With Google on PHR Project

On Thursday, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts announced that it is partnering with Google Health to allow its members to import their claims data into Google's personal health record tool, the Boston Globe reports.BCBSMA said it is the first insurer to sign on to the PHR program, which it says will help patients manage their medical care (Krasner, Boston Globe, 6/13).Beginning this fall, BCBSMA members could have online access to information on their medications, diagnoses and office visits if they consent to the program and open a Google Health account (Health Data Management, 6/12). However, the level of patients' access to the data also will depend on their health providers' technological capabilities.Steven Fox, a BCBSMA vice president leading the online project, said the partnership could "improve compliance with treatment protocols" (Boston Globe, 6/13).
Privacy Protections
Susan Leahy, spokesperson for the health plan, said, "We do have a confidentiality agreement in place with Google but no business agreement because we are not disclosing (personal health information) to Google for BCBSMA's operations or purposes" (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 6/12).

Americans Want Next President To Prioritize Health IT Efforts

More than half of U.S. residents think the next president should make health IT a top priority, according to a new survey sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Healthcare IT News reports (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 6/13).The survey, conducted in May by consulting firm StrategyOne, found that 73% of respondents said the value of EHRs outweighs the associated risks, up from 61% in 2007. In addition, the percentage of U.S. residents who have "seen, read or heard about" EHRs has increased from 43% in 2007 to 57% in 2008.The survey also found that:
65% of respondents said they have gone online to learn about a medical condition (Pulley, Government Health IT, 6/13);
61% of respondents said they prefer insurance companies that use EHRs;
47% said they prefer physicians who use EHRs; and
38% said they have used their insurers' online tools (Healthcare IT News, 6/13). Kaiser, which recently partnered with Microsoft on its personal health record platform, is calling on the health care industry to better educate consumers about the benefits of EHRs.

Source: iHealthbeat

One More on band wagon of PHR.

Aetna Announces Plans for Personalized Online Health Tool

Aetna officials on Wednesday announced plans to offer a new online search tool that will give members no-cost access at to medical information, information on local physicians who can address their needs and cost information based on their medical histories and coverage levels, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/12).

Aetna developed the service, called SmartSource, in partnership with Healthline Networks, a medical database software developer. The insurer is using information about members' medical claims and diagnostic tests, as well as the topics they have searched for, to tailor SmartSource searches.Aetna will offer the service to employers that purchase health insurance through the company. The insurer hopes to use the program to attract and retain business from companies with concerns about health care costs (Freudenheim, New York Times, 3/12).

About 30,000 Aetna employees have tested the service, and the company plans to expand the service to about two million members by the end of 2008 as part of a pilot program before making it available to all 16.8 million members (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/12).

Privacy Concerns
One of the biggest challenges associated with connecting online research to personal health data is the reluctance by patients to share health information that might be used inappropriately or affect job opportunities and insurance premiums, according to the Times.

Meg McCabe, vice president for online programs at Aetna, said that the new service is secure and that the company will not use any information related to the service to increase or reduce premiums or reject membership applications (New York Times, 3/12).

Aetna officials added that they would not sell or share information or target ads at consumers based on their search history.

In addition, because Aetna is a health insurer, it is required to comply with federal health privacy laws that do not apply to companies like Microsoft and Google, according to Greg Sterling, an analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/12).

Source: iHealthbeat