Whither patient engagement?
Last we checked in on this subject, it had unexpectedly become a hot topic at HIMSS15. (Well, actually, it already was a hot topic going in, but it got scorching just before the conference opened.)
On April 10, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed taking Meaningful Use Stage 2 compliance mostly out of the hands of patients by reducing the number of patients required to “view, download or transmit” their own health records from 5 percent to just one individual in the MU reporting period. Two days later, as MedCity News was the first to report, former national health IT coordinator Dr. Farzad Mostashari, who helped write the rules HHS now wants to change, called for a “day of action” in which large numbers of consumers demand access to their records.
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We’re still waiting for confirmation on when that day might be, but it hasn’t stopped the most vocal advocates of patient empowerment from getting louder. Last week, we shared some rather mild, explanatory cartoons on patient engagement from breast cancer survivor Casey Quinlan. But being tame is not in Quinlan’s nature.
Today, artist and patient-rights advocate Regina Holliday shared her latest addition to the “Walking Gallery,” the collection of more than 300 jackets she has painted to illustrate the wearers’ struggles in navigating the healthcare industry, and it is far from mild. (Scroll down to the bottom to see what she tweeted.) Quinlan soon will be wearing Holliday’s depiction of a raised middle finger with a ring reading, “I got your 1 patient here.” (Bonus points for a “Big Lebowski” reference. The Dude abides.)
Meanwhile, the slow — and so far, mostly fruitless, despite outreach efforts — process of educating the public about Blue Button is continuing. Today. the National Association for Trusted Exchange and the Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services released a matter-of-fact video about how patients can obtain and manage copies of their health records. Importantly, it includes a link a letter to bring to doctors, since so few medical professionals seem to know about Blue Button and the numerous third-party apps that follow the Blue Button protocol.
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Now, if only it were as simple as the video makes it out to be. Consumers need an incentive to get engaged with their own health and providers need an easier way to make records available — not to mention, actually telling their patients that they offer a portal or personal health record. (Vendors, we’re looking at you.)
Maybe then, Quinlan and Holliday wouldn’t have to “wear our outrage” so prominently?
Thx @MightyCasey wanting to wear our outrage w/ your jacket “I got your 1 patient here.” #NoMUwithoutME #HIMSS15 pic.twitter.com/iO9aqgXuic
— Regina Holliday (@ReginaHolliday) April 28, 2015
