|
| Sample Newsletters | MarketPlace AIS Products & Services |
|
AIS's Health Business Daily
Featured Story August 26, 2008 Google Health Contract Expands Personal Health Record Options for Members of BCBS of Massachusetts Reprinted from The AIS Report on Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, a hard-hitting independent monthly newsletter on business strategies, products and markets, mergers and alliances, and financing of BC/BS plans. By Bruce Goldfarb, Contributing Editor, (bgoldfarb@aispub.com) Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) is the first health plan in the country to sign a deal with Google Health to offer its personal health record (PHR) to the insurer's 3 million members, giving them an alternative to PHRs offered by WebMD, MedicAlert, iHealthRecord and other firms. When integration with Google Health is completed by the fall, BCBSMA members will be able to maintain a PHR that will include medical claims and pharmacy data, among other features. A deal with WebMD has made its PHR available to BCBSMA members since April, explains Greg LeGrow, the plan's director of e-health. Both Google Health and WebMD PHRs have similar features, allowing members to store and manage their medical records and personal health information, and download information to share with providers or others. Beyond the PHR feature, though, there are major differences between Google Health and WebMD. WebMD is a content-rich Web site with health information, symptom guides, medical resources, health tips and news stories. Google Health, on the other hand, has a map that shows the location of nearby providers, driving directions, and links to physician quality information provided by Golden, Colo.-based HealthGrades. LeGrow says that BCBSMA intends to make both Google Health and WebMD available to its members. "We think it's really important to have a choice of solutions and give our members access to the health care tools that they find most valuable," he says. Between now and the fall, BCBSMA will work with Google Health to populate the PHR with claims and pharmacy data, once a member authorizes the health plan to do so. "All we're doing is passing along claims and pharmacy information, so it only requires authorization from the patient," LeGrow says. "We don't need the permission of providers to pass that information along to our PHR partners. Populating the PHR with information takes a bit of effort, but more related to administrative matters than to technical issues, according to LeGrow. "It does require some work, mainly around whether we have the proper authorizations." Response to the move by BCBSMA to introduce PHRs to its members was generally positive — so long as enough consumers participate and if health information is kept current, says Bruce Auerbach, M.D., president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. 'We're very much in favor of the move to a better electronic medical record," Auerbach says. "As providers, we need to be assured that it's a comprehensive and up-to-date health record. If an insufficient number of people are uploading information on a regular basis, it will be much less beneficial." LeGrow was unable
to provide numbers for how many members have signed up for WebMD or
Google Health PHRs. "We haven't calculated the adoption or uptake
at this point," he says. "It's certainly something we'll keep
an eye on going forward. I don't have any figures to share." |
| ||||||||
