Page 35 - Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First: Workshop Summary

Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First: Workshop Summary

0 HeALtH LiteRACY, eHeALtH, AnD CoMMUniCAtion

• implementing new incentives and policy changes for providers to
adopt e-health technologies and evidence-based standards; and
• improving accountability by empowering consumers with quality,
cost and health information.

It is important that each beneficiary have an e-mail address and access
to the internet so that each person can obtain needed information and also
so that eHealth tools can be used effectively. One of AHCCCS’s require-
ments will be that each beneficiary have an e-mail address and, eventu-
ally, that each individual document how he or she will access the Internet.
If an individual does not have a way to access the internet, then AHCCCS
will take responsibility for devising a way to provide access. Such options
could include using cell phones, text messaging, or an iPod or MP3 player
on which information can be downloaded.
One new tool that can be used for patient Internet access in a pro-
vider’s office is the “Tablet,” a handheld personal computer with an
8.4 inch screen that runs Microsoft Windows XP. AHCCCS envisions a
time when each patient who enters a physician’s office will be handed a
device that provides access to the Internet. The patient will then be asked
to update his or her health history (AHCCCS is developing a Web-based
health history), and each patient will also access his or her personal health
account which will contain a personalized audio/video file of e-learning
programs.
In this future vision, once a patient accesses his or her personal health
account, the physician will be able to view the information and make sure
that the patient understood the individual e-learning programs, since
patient responses will be automatically uploaded to the electronic health
record (EHR). If misunderstandings occur, the physician will then be able
to correct the information and discuss the problems further.
This is the vision of “medical home” that each AHCCCS beneficiary
will eventually have. To become a medical home, primary and specialty
sites will be required to have EHRs, Internet connectivity, an AHCCCS
Health Education Kiosk or Wi-Fi -enabled touch-screen tablet, and a
14
high-definition television with speakers in the examination room so that
patients can access the e-learning tools. These e-learning programs will not
be something that the patient obtains from the Web, but rather will be pro-
grams developed specifically for the chronic conditions or other problems

14 “Wi-Fi (short for ‘wireless fidelity’) is a term for certain types of wireless local area
network (WLAN) that use specifications in the 802.11 family. The term Wi-Fi was created
by an organization called the Wi-Fi Alliance, which oversees tests that certify product inter-
operability. A product that passes the alliance tests is given the label ‘Wi-Fi certified’ (a
registered trademark)” (SearchMobileComputing.com, 2008).

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