Electronic Health Records

Jan 03 2008

Kaiser Permanente Exhibits KP HealthConnect™ To Top U.S. Government Officials

Kaiser Permanente recently demonstrated to top federal government health officials how KP HealthConnect™ can elevate the quality of health care through shared information and give patients fast, effective access to their personal medical records.

"As we move toward greater adoption of health information technology, we want to learn how electronic health records can work successfully in a patient setting. That's why we asked for today's demonstration of KP HealthConnect™," said Chitra Mohla, senior analyst from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. "And, we've gained valuable insights to share in both the public and private sectors."

In a visit to Kaiser Permanente 's West End Medical Center in Washington, D.C., officials with ONC watched as Mark H. Snyder, MD, associate medical director, information technology and research for Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, and Ted Eytan, co-founder of the Patient Centered Health Information Technology blog, simulated a patient visit to a doctor who uses KP HealthConnect™.

Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic States region serves about 500,000 people in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

"Computerizing patient medical records has the potential to speed up the delivery and improve the quality of care, lower costs and reduce routine errors that are blamed for nearly 100,000 deaths per year in the U.S.," said Dr. Snyder. "These critical benefits must be conveyed to both consumers and key policymakers and Kaiser Permanente is honored to be an example of innovative health care technology."

The demonstration for ONC fell during the same month that 100,000 Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States members, about one-fifth of the region's membership, signed on to use My health manager on kp.org to take a more active role in their personal health. At the West End Medical Center, patients most frequently access the test results feature, which allows users 24/7, online access to lab test results. Kaiser Permanente physicians most frequently use the secure messaging feature.

KP HealthConnect™ currently serves 8.6 million Kaiser Permanente nationwide. There are more than 1.7 million active users of My health manager; the website receives 33,000 unique visitors on the average day.