e-CareManagement blog

Chronic Disease Management • Technology • Strategy • Issues and Trends

Privacy Law Showdown? Legal and Policy Analysis.

#2 in a series — Modifications to HIPAA Privacy Laws: Impact on Microsoft HealthVault, Google Health, and other PHRs. 
by Deven McGraw JD, MPH, Center for Democracy & Technology
Introduction
There has been considerable discussion lately about whether or not the stimulus legislation (ARRA) extends HIPAA coverage to commercial vendors of personal health records (PHRs) any time they contract with entities [...]

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Leavitt’s Framework Shoehorns the HIPAA Privacy Rule onto Your Personal Health Information

by Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
Have you ever heard anyone tell a happy story of how easy it is to get a copy of their paper medical records?
Departing Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt is laying the groundwork for this same story to apply to access to YOUR electronic personal health [...]

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The Yabuts of Sharing Data Between Google Health and HealthVault

“What’s a yabut?” you ask.
Yabut is a term coined by my esteemed colleague, the late Paul Fetrow.  It stands for “Yeah….but….”
Yabuts are the gotchas, the fine print, the details that affect the terms of any agreement.  For example, the telecom companies will tell you its easy to switch carriers now that we have number portability.  [...]

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Untangling the Electronic Health Data Exchange

by David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
The purpose of this post is to help a non-technical audience untangle some of the confusion regarding health data exchange standards, and particularly come to a better understanding of the similarities and  differences between the Continuity of Care Record (CCR) standard and the CDA Continuity of Care Document (CCD). But [...]

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Cerner Disses Google Health. Surprised?

Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA

We’re not.
From the Kansas City Business Journal :
Google Inc. has approached Cerner Corp. about a partnership, but Cerner officials don’t sound eager to entangle themselves with the Web-search Goliath.
That’s because the proposed partnership relates to Google Health, the personal health record site launched earlier in [...]

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Feds Call on Google and Microsoft to Breathe Life into the NHIN

Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD MBA
Who is the federal  government calling on to breathe life into the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN)? Google and Microsoft.
In our first article of this series describing the Personal Health Information Network (PHIN), we noted early entrants as Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, and Dossia.  We also noted that the [...]

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Birth Announcement: the Personal Health Information Network (PHIN)

Vince Kuraitis and David C. Kibbe, MD MBA 
The Internet and digital technologies have transformed many aspects of our lives over the past twenty years.  We can get cash at ATMs all over the world; we can book our own airline reservations; we can shop and get best prices over the Internet.
Why hasn’t this happened in [...]

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A First Comparison of Google Health and MS HealthVault

While details are thin, here’s a first pass at comparing and contrasting Google Health (GH) and Microsoft HealthVault (HV).  Overall, there are many common features, some differences, and many common challenges between these two platforms. 
A High Level Comparison
Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault Personal Health Information (PHI) Platforms

There’s still not much information available about the specifics of GH, although [...]

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Microsoft’s HealthVault: User Manual = C-, Strategy to Create a New Ecosystem = A

Would you like to have the experience of being parachuted into a deep forest with no map of where you are or clues about how to get out?  If so, I suggest that you go directly to Microsoft’s new PHR at www.healthvault.com and just TRY to figure out where you are or where you’re headed.
Initial [...]

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