Category Archives: Uncategorized

Response to WHIT 5.0 Audience Questions

Last week I had the honor of speaking at WHIT 5.0 with Ted Eytan, MD, MPH, e-Patient Dave and Regina Holliday. Together we addressed the topic “Is a Personal Health Record enough in 2009?: Engaging staff, patients and communities through social media.”

In hosting the session, Ted did a great job soliciting audience comments and questions. He has posted the full collection of questions and comments in his blog post Voice of the Audeince: WHIT 5.0 “Beyond the PHR.”

Below, I will begin tackling some of the audience questions that I felt qualified to answer.

1. Social Media Policies (question #5): One member of the audience requested existing policies that balanced transparency and patient privacy. I am happy to share Kaiser Permanente’s policy. It is available at: http://tinyurl.com/kpsocialmediapolicy

2. International NGO’s (question #9): There was a question about whether Kaiser Permanente works with international NGO’s and the answer is YES! Check out kp.org/international for more information.

3. Patient-Friendly Presentation: A member of the audience asks “How could medical information be presented in a patient -friendly format to assure added value to patients?” While I admit I am biased, I think kp.org does a great job linking directly from actual clinical information (e.g., a lab test result) within the PHR to a health encyclopedia with easy-to-read information about what that information means to a non-clinical reader. To see what I mean, check out this demo of My Health Manager.

More answers to come . . . .

Creating Safe Routes to School

Very disappointed to say that because I was in another state, I missed the opportunity to walk my son to school on International Walk to School Day.

Though it may seem as if walking to school is not a very big deal, for too many there is a lack of safe, accessible routes to school. That fact alone prevents too many children from taking part in what should be the easiest form of exercise.

I wrote about this in more detail on EngageHer. It’s worth checking out this video about Kaiser Permanente’s Photovoice project, too.

Good health begins in our neighborhoods. Though it may seem daunting, this video shows that making meaningful improvements is possible. It just takes involvement of others who care.

As Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Eliminating the Perception of a Digital Divide Among Seniors

I’ve recently attended a few social media conferences where speakers wrote off online engagement of seniors. Their assumptions about seniors, I believe, was based on out-dated stereotypes. Stereotypes that assume that just because you may have hit or surpassed the “magic age” of 65 that you have no digital connections.

It’s time for us each of us to give up those old stereotypes.

Just today, I received a retirement notice from a former boss who notified her network that she was giving up her landline in favor of her cell phone and Skype.

Kaiser Permanente also released survey data today that showed that Medicare beneficiaries are embracing the Internet to manage their health. From Jan Oldenburg: “The biggest surprise from the survey was discovering that the typical Kaiser Permanente Medicare beneficiary who is registered to use My Health Manager is very comfortable with computers, using the Internet daily and reviewing their medical record online a few times each month.”

If those results are convincing enough for you, perhaps I should introduce you to my 75+ year old parents. Between the two of them, they own three laptops (each has a Mac at home and they travel with a small PC to email their family), an iPhone and a Kindle.

Aloha Mobile Health

So I was lucky enough to get a quick tour of Kaiser Permanente’s new mobile health vehicle during it’s brief visit to Oakland before it’s put on a boat to serve people on the Big Island of Hawaii. Simply put, this thing is cool. With just 500 square feet, they have squeezed in an exam room, restroom, a digital mammography unit and a rather cozy little waiting room. Fully computerized, the vehicle runs off cellular technology and the team in Hawaii has identified hot-spots that will ensure that providers will have full access to KP HealthConnnect — an electronic health record — whenever they care for patients.

Truly a great solution for improving access to high-quality care for people in rural areas.