Like the banking industry 10-15 years ago, Healthcare providers are coming to realise that if they start to provide intuitive software that can be used on consumer devices, then people (patients) will start to do more of the work (for free) that the Healthcare Industry currently has to pay for. These unpaid workers will be motivated by a desire for greater transparency of their own health and care information, and the ability to manage that information in the most efficient and effective ways possible; with the ultimate aim of improving their care quality and overall wellness.
This means that they will need something other than an EHR to do this, something that is constructed with the service user in mind, not the clinician. Something that makes it easy for them to see the interactions that they have had, the resultant actions, and the future planned interactions that are to come. Something that when they enter the highly fragmented world of UK care provision, allows them to have immediate access to the core elements of information that any other care provider would need.
If the providers can’t seamlessly join up the information that they all have on their patients, then it falls to the users of services themselves to take control of this information, become the stewards of it, and allow access to their various healthcare providers on a ‘needs only’ basis. For the last 20 years we have tried to create integrated care records that all providers can use and share, and largely this has failed to deliver for patients. Has the time now come for patients to seize the initiative and take control?
The Royal Society of Medicine has put together a great group of presenters to discuss the topic in depth. Come along, listen, and contribute to the discussion – book here.
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