Contact Information: Healthwise Contact: Brenda Foster Phone: 208.331.6963 E-mail:
The Virtual Health Home; Healthwise(R) White Paper Proposes an Information Dashboard That Puts the Patient in the Driver's Seat
| Source: Healthwise
BOISE, ID--(Marketwire - January 7, 2009) - Most can agree that problems of health care
quality stem from poor coordination and continuity of care. A medical home
-- where multiple medical providers center the coordination of their care
on the patient -- can only offer half of a solution. The success of the
medical home depends on the existence of the virtual health home, according
to a new Healthwise white paper titled "The Virtual Health Home: The
Dashboard for Health and Health Care," written by Healthwise CEO Don Kemper
and Senior Vice President Leslie Kelly Hall. The new white paper can be
downloaded at www.healthwise.org.
Mr. Kemper and Ms. Hall introduce the virtual health home as an information
dashboard enabling collaborative communication that brings together an
integrated collection of patient-facing information, tools, and programs.
It's also a place that people can make their own to help them manage their
health care and conditions.
"Just like the best dashboards found on My MSN®, Facebook®,
iGoogle™, and other Internet sites, people can control what information
they want to see and use," Kemper says. "In a virtual health home, patients
will select the information, self-management tools, decision support, and
social networks most relevant to their own health needs and interests."
The paper details the necessary building blocks and describes what it will
take to build a virtual health home. It also points out that the virtual
health home needs to be independent of the medical home so that it travels
with the patient in case the doctor or patient moves or if the patient
chooses a different medical home.
As adoption of the medical home and electronic health records spreads, more
and more physicians are getting a real-time, bird's-eye view of a patient's
health and health care. In the virtual health home, patients will get a
dynamic, engaging resource to help them improve and get involved in their
own health and health care.
In the white paper, Mr. Kemper and Ms. Hall explain that both the medical
home and the virtual health home put the patient at the center. However, in
the medical home the perspective is that of health professionals who are
looking and managing in toward the patient. In the virtual health home, the
patient is looking and managing out from the center. The difference is
meaningful.
Hospitals have a prime opportunity to play a lead role in the virtual
health home. The virtual health home and the medical home may be able to
fill the gap in care coordination and continuity. Better coordination and
continuity of health care can improve care quality and care management,
reduce costs, and enhance patient and provider satisfaction.
About Healthwise
Healthwise is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help people make
better health decisions. Nearly 120 million times a year, people turn to
Healthwise information to learn how to do more for themselves, ask for the
care they need, and say "no" to the care they don't need. Healthwise
partners with health plans, hospitals, disease management companies, and
health Web sites to provide up-to-date, evidence-based information to the
people they serve. To learn more about the Healthwise Information Therapy
(Ix) Solution, visit www.healthwise.org or call 1.800.706.9646.
© Copyright 2009, Healthwise, Incorporated.
Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo
are trademarks of Healthwise.
1.800.706.9646
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