I was recently discussing a healthcare case in my MBA class and it got me thinking about systems related issues prevelant there. A key challenge facing this industry seems to be in sharing medical records and improving quality. The nut of the case is that patients have their information trapped in many different systems within the industry thereby reducing the quality of care. While sharing this information is a goal, stakeholders are not clear on who owns and controls the flow of information. A
recent article described two approaches to the problem. The first one labeled personal health records (PHR) wants the patient to own and manage the information. Microsoft with its
HealthVault, Steve Case with
RevolutionHealth, Google
talking about its online platform for its health offering are some examples of this approach. The second approach is being called Electronic medical record (EMR). Using this approach, existing systems are modified to interoperate with one another to share information. This would call for the emergence of standards. So far, the EMR approach has been predominant, as can be seen from documented case studies, but hasn't delivered on its promise for a unified patient record. Maybe the PHR approach holds some hope.