Making Sense of eHealth Helping New Yorkers make good decisions about sharing their health information electronically

Life is unpredictable... Narrative for Slides 2-6. Imagine you have an accident, need to be rushed to ER; you are 72 years old and taking 7 different medications with varying dosages at different times; you’ve just moved and you need your child’s immunization records before she can start school/go to camp; you’re taking care of your elderly father, arranging for care provider visits, helping him fill out medical history, managing his care; you have a chronic illness (or illnesses) and see a number of different care providers who work at or are affiliate with after different health care facilities on a routine basis, and take a variety of medications or have lab tests, and you have limited mobility. Fill in your own examples based on the needs and interests of your audience.

And health care can be complicated.

There’s a lot to navigate, Getty 85703271

And there may be others… Getty 85703271

Who depend on you. Getty 85703271

Health care used to require paper. Slide 6. Limits of paper records. Picture of stacks of papers, messy, person looking frazzled, confused, desperate. Narrative -- So much paper, average number of pages generated over a lifetime, compounded by paper needed for children, relatives, etc. Paper can be lost, unavailable, expensive to duplicate, impossible/unwieldy to carry from appt. to appt. or accessed to people not involved in your care(i.e. size of charts) Getty 200445939-001

But paper has limits. Narrative -- So much paper, average number of pages generated over a lifetime, compounded by paper needed for children, relatives, etc. Paper can be lost, unavailable, expensive to duplicate, impossible/unwieldy to carry from appt. to appt. or accessed to people not involved in your care (i.e. size of charts) – add more images to depict these points. Photo by Ashley Fisher Photo by Getty AA042843

And risks. Narrative -- So much paper, average number of pages generated over a lifetime, compounded by paper needed for children, relatives, etc. Paper can be lost, unavailable, expensive to duplicate, impossible/unwieldy to carry from appt. to appt. or accessed to people not involved in your care (i.e. size of charts) Photo by Getty Creative (RF)#200361804-001

Imagine a better way. Imagine if all your medical info were available in one place, accessible by your care providers when you need it. eHealth makes this possible. eHealth turns paper records into electronic computer records, makes it possible for information to be collected and shared at the push of a button, when you want it, when you need it. Reduces risks of medical errors, eliminates cost of duplication, reduces remembering key medical information or wear and tear of having to lug folders and boxes and keep everything organized, saves time in filling out lengthy medical history, allows you to be a better caregiver for children and elderly relatives, gives you the power to better manage your own care. Getty: 81860619

New York is building eHealth networks Ehealth in NY- RHIOS. Picture of State with hubs of connections/computers, maybe illustrated by blue health care facility for each region that is in process of going live. A RHIO Near you… This may take, two slides

That build on nationwide eHealth efforts “(W)e do a better job tracking a FedEx package in this country than we do tracking a patient's health records...” Slide 9. Ehealth Around the Country—Pres. Obama/ stimulus $$ to states and dr.s to modernize. Picture of Country, with image of DC/$19 billion. Picture of Obama standing next to chart with a quote from him about why ehealth is needed to improve care/lower costs “(W)e do a better job tracking a FedEx package in this country than we do tracking a patient's health records. You shouldn't have to tell every new doctor you see about your medical history, or what prescriptions you're taking. You should not have to repeat costly tests. All of that information should be stored securely in a private medical record so that your information can be tracked from one doctor to another - even if you change jobs, even if you move, and even if you have to see a number of different specialists.” – President Obama

Now is the time. - The US health care system is in desperate need of reform - 95 % of Americans see benefits in having medical information in electronic form The federal government is investing an unprecedented $19 billion in health information technology through the Stimulus Package Nearly 70% of states report “very significant e-health activities.” New York is among the leaders nationwide 95% of Americans see some benefit in having medical information in electronic form. (Reactions & Opinions Inc, 2008). Top benefits: Information availability in emergency (80%) Convenient access to records regardless of location (73%)

What eHealth means for health care providers A fuller picture of their patients' health... when and where they need it.

What eHealth means for the consumer/patient Safer health care Convenience More control of your own (and your family’s) health Picture of person, maybe playing a sport with the family (soccer?) or picnic. Narrative about specifics of ehealth. Getty 73552628

Consent: It’s Up to You Picture of Consent Form (maybe just the heading plus a few lines) Specific ehealth issues for patients to understand. Consent—the form, the choices, the pros and cons. (not required, your decision! May be safer than paper records, breach policies, etc.

For More Information… Slide 15. Resources. Brochure, ehealth4ny. For more information…. State phone number, FAQs on RHIO Consent form, “accessible” brochure version, etc.