Microsoft and Emory University launched a new website Tuesday with the purpose of enabling patients and creating an intersection of health care and technology during the H1N1 crisis.
I was one of ten health technology bloggers privileged to be able to speak with David Cerino (General Manager of Microsoft Health Solutions Group) and Dr. Arthur Kellermann (Professor of Emergency Medicine and Associate Dean at the Emory School of Medicine) about this new site, www.h1n1responsecenter.com
www.h1n1responsecenter.com is an interactive self assessment tool that allows for anyone to determine if they likely have the flu, whether or not they should go in to see a doctor, and what their overall risk rating is as a flu patient.
This three part assessment is built in conjunction with the CDC and endorsed by the…American College of American Physicians. The application is built in very plain English and uses health literacy research to create a very down to Earth feel.
The purpose of this web based application is many fold. The tool helps to sooth fears and ease tensions of patients that are unsure if they have the flu (and possibly H1N1 / Novell / Swine flu). The patient is able to self empower and take advantage of clinical knowledge without having to go into primary care or an emergency room. Additionally, if the patient does find that they are likely to have a flu bug, they are able to simply print their results or save them to Microsoft HealthVault for digital retrieval. The Microsoft HealthVault option is very nice for patients that have signed up for a branded Personal Health Record (PHR) like Mayo Clinic’s Health Manager. Their data will automatically flow to their PHR and they do not have to worry about transportation or security of the information. The two options of paper and digital are equally valuable to a provider. The information is straight forward and allows for the provider to immediate see a symptom list for the patient. This should speed up the diagnosis process and allow for a quicker transfer of the patient through the health care system. This saves the patient irritation, time, and money.
www.h1n1responsecenter.com will be continuously evolving as the H1N1 treatments evolve. With the launch on Tuesday the site is geared towards adults and youth from the age of 12 and up. However, both Microsoft and Emory are working on an assessment geared for the pediatric patients. Along with this expansion, there are also plans to implement a “tele-doc” service to take advantage of tele-medicine capabilities that the Internet enables.
My hats off to Microsoft and Emory University. They are helping to innovate health care in new and exciting ways. This type of innovation is critical for our industry’s future.
