Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft Launch Online Records Pilot Program
On Monday, officials from Kaiser Permanente and Microsoft announced that the companies are developing a patient information exchange pilot program, Reuters/Washington Post reports (Reuters/Washington Post, 6/9).
Under the program, patients who use Kaiser's personal electronic health record system, My Health Manager, will be able to transfer medical data -- including prescriptions, allergies, immunization information and medical conditions -- from My Health Manager to Microsoft HealthVault accounts.
Users will be able to dictate what information is transferred and will have access to their profile via the Internet (Lawton, Wall Street Journal, 6/9). Initially, the program will only be available to Kaiser's 156,000 employees (Reuters/Washington Post, 6/9).
The pilot stage will last until November. If successful, the program would then be offered to Kaiser's 8.7 million members in nine states, including California, and Washington, D.C. (Lohr, New York Times, 6/10).
During the pilot stage, Kaiser will be testing the program's security to ensure it meets safety standards, according to Anna-Lisa Silvestre, Kaiser's vice president of online services (Wall Street Journal, 6/9).
Revolution Health Group and Google launched a similar program, Google Health, in February (Reuters/Washington Post, 6/9).
According to the New York Times, analysts said the program is significant because of the size of Kaiser and "its reputation as an innovative user of information technology."
Silvestre said Kaiser's internal health record system is doubling annually, adding that 2.25 million of its members currently use it (New York Times, 6/10).