Home

Cover Story

Table of Contents

E-Newsletter

Article Archive

Editorial Calendar

Datebook

Writers' Guidelines

Orgs/Links

Opinion Polls

Reprints

Search

Feb. 11 - Electronic Personal Health Record For Hypertension

Whether patients with an electronic handle on their health are more successful at beating one of the nation's leading chronic diseases is under study.

The study, funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, will give hundreds of patients with hypertension an electronic personal health record that enables them to post their blood pressure, weight, even what they eat in their medical record and e-mail their physicians when needed.

MCG researchers will work with hypertensive patients in the family medicine and internal medicine practices at MCGHealth to see if the electronic personal health record enhances patient involvement.

Two small studies will first get patient and physician input on how to make, IQHealth™, the electronic personal health record developed by Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner Corp, more patient friendly.

A year-long study of 720 patients with hypertension will follow in which half the participants will use the newly-refined electronic personal health record and the remainder will receive standard treatment for a condition that affects about one quarter of the population or 65 million Americans.

The MCG Center for Patient and Family Centered Care, received a $30,000 grant from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2005 to test the Cerner system, used under the brand name My HealthLink at MCGHealth, in patients with multiple sclerosis. The 12-month study found that patients liked having a secure electronic link to care givers and that the electronic personal health record is an effective tool in helping battle chronic disease.

"An electronic personal health record is recognition that if we are serious about optimal outcomes in health care, we have to involve the patient," says Dr. Charlotte Weaver, vice president and executive director for nursing research at Cerner.

"At the end of the day, if you can deliver a personal health record that people will use, that delivers just tremendous value to our health care system as well as to individuals," Dr. Weaver says. Chronic diseases, such as hypertension, among aging baby boomers make the timing and impact significant, she says. "Cerner is pleased and honored to be a partner with the Medical College of Georgia in this important work."

Study participants don't have to have a computer; study coordinators will help those who don't find where they can use one. However one of the many questions being asked is whether or not having a computer affects use of the electronic personal health record.

They will learn how to use the electronic record then have follow up visits at three, six and 12 months. Researchers will measure what they call patient activation or just how involved patients are in their own health, gather pertinent biological data such as blood pressure and waist circumference and use a widely accepted test to assess their relationship with their physician.

Source: Medical College of Georgia

(View the Daily News Archive)