Medical records. Hospital owned or patient owned?

I had an “ah-ha” moment while sitting in the New Jersey Hospital Association’s annual meeting.   We were listening to Dr. Eric Topol – Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, cardiologist, and author – discuss the technology changes that consumers have access to today.

In some cases the technology he talked about is only available to people with huge resources, but his point in showing the crowd of 500 people these things is – “They are coming.” Not only will these new technologies be available to patients, but the access to the technology will change the dynamics of the patient experience and the relationship they have with the entire healthcare system.

The technology advancements that are on their way are not new to you. I have been saying these things at the employee meetings over the last 3 years. I have shared a number of times that we need to continue to find ways to bring value to the patients.

But, I had one of those aha moments during the presentation. Dr. Topol wrote a book – “Patients Come First,” and in his book he talks about when the patient will be able to eventually preform their own EKG or X-ray, there will be a lot fewer emergency department visits because they will not need the services of a hospital or person for urgent intervention.   

Ok no big deal there.

What really struck me was when he started talking about who owns patient medical records. In each state, the laws define the “ownership” differently.

For example, in New Jersey the law says the hospital owns and maintains the records and the patients only have access to them. Vermont is the only state in the nation where the patient owns their own records.

I can bet that most of you know how to read a medical record, right? Well, when I have read my own medical record, I’m convinced the doctor must have written it in another language – to me it is just gibberish.

So when Dr. Topol began talking about the translation services (my description) that are now available to explain to patients what their scans and medical records say in layman’s terms, I was so grateful for what that could do for our patients and families! Patients will no longer need to rely on the healthcare professional to make sense of the words; technology will do it for them.

I know what you’re thinking – that’s just one more piece of technology that will replace us! But it’s not, it’s an advancement that will help, and I’ll tell you why.

The new technology cannot replace the plan of care and the value of developing the relationship that we as humans provide. This technology can help to speed up a task that would normally take time out of your day, allowing you to use that time to see more patients.

I get ads for shoes all the time while searching on the Web (and always thinking “How do they know I love shoes?!”). When someone is searching specific health issues they are concerned about via Google or Bing monitoring their activity, we could use the same data sharing that Amazon uses in their marketing efforts to “market” to our patients the information that will help them with carry-over care, help them get healthy or remain healthy, and to take their medications. Well, it could help any number of things!

Yes, this could have some ethical issues but if the patient controls their own records, they could participate in any number of different apps that give them the tools they need to manage their lives and care in entirely different ways. We are trying to do this already with our new Parent PAL app, but the inner connectivity to other information could be the game changer.

Ok just breathe. I’m not trying to scare you, but instead to inspire all of us to think about what our patients couldn’t live without. Then, to develop the technology to remedy their issue and help it to become essential to them.

You know I love my FitBit. It truly does make me feel better when I hit my goals and keep track of how my friends are doing on their personal efforts to keep up their cardio. How could we help people manage the stress in their lives?

Would love to hear your thoughts!