Page 68 - 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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proficiency (LEP) members is that printed and online content is not easily
available in Spanish, with the exception of MedLine Plus, and appropriate
translation services are difficult to locate. MiVIA’s first translation effort
was carried out by a university and cost a substantial amount of money,
which was paid for by a grant. Two years later MiVIA learned that it was
not an appropriate translation. It was a word-for-word translation and,
as such, did not make sense. MiVIA has received a great deal of criticism
about that translation and is in the process of trying to identify the cor-
rect technical and financial resources to remedy the error. Still, despite its
problems, the Spanish translation is being used for now since there is, as
yet, nothing better.
A final challenge relates to quality. Those who work in the field of
electronic health records and information exchange are so involved with
issues of technology, privacy, security, getting the project out, and prepar-
ing for interoperability that that they have not yet put in place a mecha-
nism to measure the quality and content of the translation. This is a key
challenge.
Solomon made several recommendations for future efforts to con-
struct patient-centered health information technology. First, when issuing
requests for proposals, it should be a prerequisite for funding that the
proposal should include provisions for serving LEP individuals. Second,
resources should be made available to assist organizations in accessing,
measuring, and deploying health content that is relevant and respectful
of cultural differences. Finally, because many individuals in vulnerable
populations do not read or do not read well, the development of down-
loadable audio and video content should be encouraged.
Although many talk about the huge investment of resources needed
to develop health information technology, the total amount of funding for
MiVIA through the 6 years of its development is less than $600,000. This
is not a huge investment, considering the benefits that accrue.
Solomon concluded with a vision for the future of MiVIA and other
personal health records. In that vision, these tools make it possible for
both physician and patient information to be sent directly to the PHR
from any electronic health record; there are condition-specific modules for
self management; access to critical information is available 24 hours a day,
7 days a week; and the tools have the ability to bridge language barriers
between patients and providers.

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