The Olympia-based Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) has launched three consumer-managed health record bank pilot projects in three regions of the state; Bellingham-based St. Joseph Hospital Foundation and The Critical Junctures Institute; Cashmere-based Community Choice Healthcare Network, and Spokane-based Inland Northwest Health Services.
Health Record Banks provide patients an opportunity to securely store personal health information in one location using Web-based tools available from both Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health (Mountain View, Calif.). These online portals link patients to their Health Record Bank account, where they can create, view, verify and share a copy of their health information, say the companies. These pilots will be one of the first Health Record Banks in the United States that allow patient control.
The pilots received $1.7 million in state grants to test the viability, value and use of personalized records. State funds were made available through legislation and the recommendations of Governor Gregoire’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care, which advocates the use of technology for sharing information between patients and providers so that they can better manage their health care and reduce the cost of redundant procedures.
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