Page 84 - 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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policies regarding personal health information and the term “network
PHRs.” The technology is fast developing to the point where, given stan-
dards, one should be able to take a PHR from one system to another and
share information.
In terms of usability in separate locations, MiVIA has been imple-
mented not only on the West Coast but also in New York. Two networks
that have migrant streams that go from New York to Florida are enrolling
the members in New York and then having the clinics in Florida connect
with those in New York.
But the most important things, Solomon continued, are first to edu-
cate, then to engage in outreach, and finally to proceed with implemen-
tation. One needs to educate the public and the provider communities
about how PHR and technology can help. Next, outreach with communi-
ties and providers must be undertaken. Finally, one must implement the
program.
One audience member said that, given the discussion, it seems correct
to say that there is no standard PHR design or dominant design in the
country. Is there a standard interface with electronic medical records?
Solomon responded that a standard interface is emerging. Just as
CCHIT (Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technol-
9
ogy) offers certification for electronic medical records, HL7 will soon be
releasing recommendations for interfaces around certain parts of the PHR.
Standardization could happen, although it has not yet been accomplished.
Information can be downloaded from the HL7 website at www.hl7.org.
Gauthier added that there are definitely opportunities for standard-
izing personal health records, but there will always be a need for seg-
mentation. For example, a patient could take an activation quiz to find
out where he or she is on the health literacy scale and then be prescribed
a certain type of PHR based on how health-literate that patient is. As the
patient progresses in health literacy, he or she could easily move informa-
tion to a different PHR. That is where standards would be key.
Solomon was asked whether she thought that at some point any
commercial application of EHR in the country would be able to feed
MiVIA data. Absolutely, Solomon responded. MiVIA is already working
with two electronic medical record companies and with other PHRs to
accomplish this.
One questioner asked whether, within the MiVIA PHR design, there
are any standards for the way information is displayed, for the level or

9 “Health Level Seven is one of several American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-
accredited Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) operating in the healthcare arena.
Health Level Seven’s domain is clinical and administrative data” (Health Level Seven Inc.,
2008).

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