Regarding “The next big app”:

This ties back to interoperability. A patient may see three, four or more providers. Each of those providers will have a different electronic medical record, and if they have a portal, require as many different logins. Each login will show only the patient what that provider has or gives them access to.

The patient needs access to everything that exists out there that pertains to them, the same way that the providers do.

Currently, each provider could link with a health information exchange, and who knows if the HIEs are talking with each other, or if the HIE model even has any sustainability?

The only way to achieve this is to have the insurance companies report everything to a central location—say a communal plan system—where patients and providers will have access to the same data.

This communal plan system makes much more sense than individual providers worrying about granting portal access to their patients and being able to see only a fraction of the patient data at any given time. Give the patients and providers access to everything that has gone through the insurance companies, and everyone will get a real look at their total history.

John Raghanti
Henry Schein Medical Systems
Boardman, Ohio