Where are your x-Rays?

I started this blog by saving that ‘House’ was one of my favorite TV shows. One of the reasons is the Tech Wife and I spend a fair amount of time with doctors. There is nothing too serious going on, but lets just say that I did not win the genetics lottery and the Tech Wife is a bit less coordinated than she would like to be. We are big fans of health insurance as we really do get our moneys worth. 

Last week, Bill Lundell, one of ESG’s crack research gurus, sent along a note to the company regarding Google’s foray into the medical records storage business. The news announcement even had a customer, a Cleveland, OH healthcare provider, quoted (like Google needs credibility or a customer when it announces something). With Google’s service, health care records and images can be stored on the internet so that they can be easily accessed. The privacy groups weighed in saying that there is no way this can be safe and there must be some sort of HIPAA infraction. 

Google is the only healthcare records service that was announced. Today, Iron Mountain and HP showed off their medical archiving services for providers that don't want to save stuff locally. Note to most patients:  there is a good chance part of your medical history is stored at some Iron Mountain warehouse. The new service aims to make the records more available for hospitals and ultimately for the patient being cared for.

The following list takes a patient’s perspective, rather than an analyst one, at the look of these (types of) announcements.

• I don’t care what privacy people say, you can store my medical records anywhere you want as long as the doctor I am currently seeing has access to them. Quick access is preferred.  I don’t have the statistic but there are far too many deaths in the United States caused by misinformation including a doctor not knowing what medication a patient is allergic too. If I can't talk for some reason, the doctor better be able to find out what to give me and what not to give me. Privacy risk versus death? You pick.
• I once went to a very well known hospital in Boston where I was seen by the attending physician (50+ years old) and the fellow (30ish).  The attending couldn’t log on to the hospital's systems to read my blood results because the ‘Caps Lock’ were on. The fellow sent my prescription to a pharmacy on her PDA after she used the medical encyclopedia on the PDA to check for any allergic reactions between the drug and my existing medications.  My point is that as soon this woman becomes an attending physician along with her colleagues of a similar age, hospitals will have to go digital because a majority of the employees will actually know how to use all the gadgets.
• Its about time Iron Mountain Digital did something in an industry where its paper records management business has a big presence. They are viewed as a trusted partner in healthcare like GE Medical, Siemens, Cerner and McKesson. Hospitals will follow their lead.  Now, Iron Mountain and a hospital can move into the digital medical records world together. 
• It's about time that Google actually did something that is meaningful to people's well being. Sure, they made the internet more useable, but if they can make it easy for me to transfer medical records when I move from one place to another, that’s a real accomplishment. I literally had to buy extra boxes to move my medical records from Boston to Palo Alto, CA. I hope this is just the start for Google in some of these more ‘non You Tube-ish’ efforts.  Don't get me wrong, I like the videos, but I like things that make my life easier much better.
• This is an analyst and personal perspective.  ByCast is a company that I have seen over the years that makes healthcare information management pretty easy.  In fact, HP's Medical Archive Solution is based on its technology.  ByCast makes storing DICOM files and images easy on any storage device.  I have multiple images of my body taken every year and it really annoys me when my doctors can't read them on a PC.  There are a few other vendors that do some of this stuff as well and I will take any meeting with them.  Why? Because they make my life as a patient easier.