Page 41 - Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First: Workshop Summary

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

HeALtH LiteRACY, eHeALtH, AnD CoMMUniCAtion

One participant pointed out that there is a movement called Health
2.0 which is focused on health. One Health 2.0 site, called Patients Like
Me, allows patients to identify themselves, either anonymously or not,
and then interact with others, describe their conditions, describe their
experience with drugs, and so on. Patients Like Me also contains a variety
of sites dedicated to particular health issues. For example, there is an ALS
(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) site within Patients Like Me.
One questioner referred to the study of CITL mentioned by
Marchibroda which suggested that if standardized health care infor-
mation were exchanged among health care IT systems, there would be
a national savings of $86.8 billion. Is this a reasonable figure and how
would that happen? Marchibroda responded that those conducting the
study examined data flow across different organizations. The estimated
savings come from a variety of things, such as reductions in duplicate
lab tests and reductions in transactional costs related to messaging.
In order to achieve the savings, one must provide multiple services
to multiple parties in the system, which is not how things happen in
the real health care system, in order to realize a return on the capital
investment.
One participant stated that when she thinks of populations with low
health literacy she thinks of recent immigrants, the elderly, and those with
limited English proficiency. Would the tools that are being developed for
eHealth actually disenfranchise these groups even more? How can these
populations learn to use Health 2.0 or other eHealth tools? Won’t these
tools be of benefit only for other populations, those who do not have the
health literacy problems faced by these disadvantaged populations?
Rodgers responded that, for AHCCCS efforts, the strategy is to keep
eHealth tools really simple (e.g., point and click on pictures, not words)
and to provide an easy set of audio/video instructions for those experi-
encing difficulty. To ensure that these tools are effective, one must start at
the point of those being served and provide help, whether that is in the
library or the physicians’ offices. Even as more and more of the popula-
tion becomes comfortable with using eHealth tools, there will still be a
group for which using the tools will be a challenge. For these individuals,
new strategies will need to be developed. The idea is to try something,
evaluate what has been tried, learn from that evaluation about what
works and what doesn’t, and have a system that is flexible enough so that
necessary changes can be made.
One participant observed that the role of individuals is going to be
important in the realization of cost savings. Individuals will have to be
literate enough to interact with the technology in order to harvest savings.
How much of the projected $144 million for Arizona or the $86.6 billion
estimate savings will depend upon computer literacy?

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