Page 63 - 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

only. By 2005 MiVIA had expanded to include members of the homeless
community. In 2007 four hospitals were using it as an electronic medical
record and it had expanded its member rolls to include special needs
children.
The resulting PHR, which was designed with input from the mem-
bers, is Web-based, and compliant with HIPAA (the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act). It is now being licensed to hospitals
and clinics for use with mobile populations. Additionally, it serves as an
affordable electronic health record for small clinics.
When the MiVIA pilot project started in 2003, it had a goal of enroll-
ing 50 migrant workers. That figure quickly became 250, then 300, then
400. Because MiVIA serves a very mobile population of migrant workers
who may access many different clinics and health care systems from San
Diego all the way up the coast to Alaska, it serves as a bridge among these
health systems. It promotes continuity of care and engages and empowers
members as active partners in their own health care.
MiVIA stores medical and dental information and provides a photo
identification and emergency information card which includes the mem-
ber’s name, health conditions, the last provider seen, any allergies, and
other special information, such as presence of implanted medical devices.
MiVIA also includes an e-mail account offering a “permanent” address
and provides information and resources with links to other health infor-
mation resources, primarily to MedLine Plus, but also to some other
health websites. Both family and individual memberships are available.
It is interesting to note that 7 out of 10 of the providers engaged in
MiVIA had not heard about MedLine Plus before getting involved with
MiVIA. Once they learn about it, however, they love it. And it is not only
providers who appreciate having the additional information available
from MedLine Plus, but members appreciate it as well. One story illus-
trates the value of this resource. About a year and a half ago, an older
gentleman came to the resource center with his daughter. The gentle-
men was supposed to take seven medications but the daughter told an
outreach worker that, while her father needed the medications, he did
not take them. The outreach worker and the daughter sat with the father,
logged on to MedLine Plus, looked up every medication, and printed the
information in Spanish. That was what was needed to engage the gentle-
man in his health care so that he took his medication. The small amount
of effort required to log into MedLine Plus and retrieve information from
it made all the difference in that patient’s care.
MiVIA has a clinician portal for professional entry and verification. A
clinician can go to www.mivia.org, sign up as a clinician, and run a test
account to check out the system. The log-in is also available in Spanish,
although it is somewhat more limited. There are approximately 5,000

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