Page 60 - Health Literacy, eHealth, and Communication: Putting the Consumer First: Workshop Summary

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

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One approach in such situations might be to supplement the data with
materials that enrich and support patients’ understanding, for example by
providing places to obtain additional information and resources to help
patients make decisions.
Another approach that VA has worked on in response to an executive
order is to offer quality information about delivery of services. Rather
than just put forth a report card about quality metrics for a particular
facility, clinic, or physician, VA opted to integrate the sharing of quality
information into My HealtheVet.
The longer-term goal is to move from generalized reports about the
quality of a facility to provider-specific reports, which are then translated
into something of value to the patient, such as, Is my blood pressure
under control? Is my blood sugar controlled?
An audience member suggested that as one gains more informa-
tion about one’s own personal health record, there may be things in the
record that one did not hear when visiting the clinician. Will the VA have
a mechanism to allow patients to type questions back to their clinicians
for clarification, or is there another way to obtain clarification? Nazi
responded that one of the things that emerged from the pilot was that it
is very important to patients that the content of their medical record be
correct. When that information is released, there must be an easy way for
patients to identify things that may need to be corrected. Soon, with one
click, a patient will be able to send a secure message to a triage group
which then sends it on to the best person to handle the message. The
idea that patients should be able to relay information or questions is very
interesting and something worth thinking about.

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