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Our Blogs
Blog Archive
From the desk of ... Megan O'Boyle, GetMyHealthData Tracer, Health IT
A Mother's Journey
Megan is the mother of a child with a rare genetic syndrome. Here, she shares her story of overcoming many obstacles – from high fees to puzzling policies and procedures – to get copies of her daughter’s medical records so she can better coordinate her care.
From the desk of ... Erin Mackay and Dena Mendelsohn, Health Policy Analyst, Consumers Union, Health IT
A Long Time Coming: Health Technology in the Hands of Patients
Did you know that you may already be able to access your digital health records from home? Harnessing the power of technology to improve health and care doesn’t have to be complicated; you don’t need the latest Fitbit, Apple Watch or GoogleGlass for technology to make an impact on your life.
As you know, at the National Partnership for Women & Families, we strongly believe health IT is a real game-changer for patients, helping them take charge of their health and become true partners in improving our health care system.
From the desk of ... MaryAnne Sterling, member of the Consumer Partnership for eHealth and co-founder of Connected Health Resources, Health IT
Building Better Health IT Tools for Family Caregivers
As we become immersed in the sights and sounds of the holiday season, there is a largely invisible group of people struggling to balance their daily responsibilities with the added stress of the holidays – family caregivers.
From the desk of ... Erin Mackay, Health IT
How Do I Get to Healthy?
What if, instead of plugging in your destination address, you could ask for directions to get to healthy?
From the desk of ... Erin Mackay, Health IT
"Meaningful Use" of Health IT: What the FACA?!
What happens when you put a couple of dozen doctors, technology vendors, consumer advocates, researchers, public health officials, state legislators and others in a room and ask them to agree on exactly what it means to ‘meaningfully use’ electronic health records? Not as many fights as you’d think. And thanks to the Federal Advisory Committees Act [1] – which created the FACAs responsible for creating the first draft of Meaningful Use criteria – we know!
Health IT, From the desk of ... Erin Mackay
An Opportunity to Reduce Health Disparities that We Cannot Afford to Waste
One of America’s greatest assets is its incredible diversity. Today, one in five people in this country age five and older speak a language other than English at home. The U.S. Hispanic population has reached 50.5 million, accounting for more than half of the population increase since 2000.
From the desk of ... Mark Savage, Health IT
Moving Forward on Health IT
Delay access to health information you need now? Pause efforts to ensure that an emergency room can get your medical data from your doctor immediately, if the need arises? Patients and consumers say no.
From the desk of ... Elina Alterman, Health IT
Why Health IT is Truly the Cat's Meow
Those of us who work in the health IT world spend our days analyzing policies, creating advocacy strategies, and talking about meaningful use criteria, quality improvement, and care coordination till we're blue in the face. But how does that play out when we leave the office? More often than not, we bring our work home.
From the desk of ... Elina Alterman, Health IT
Meaningful Use March Madness: SO/GI or Bust!
Welcome to the final installment of Meaningful Use March Madness, a series of blog posts refuting frequently-heard arguments about the criteria proposed for the Electronic Health Record “Meaningful Use” Incentive Program.
From the desk of ... Erin Mackay, Health IT
Meaningful Use March Madness: Keep Up the Pace
Welcome to Meaningful Use March Madness, a series of blog posts refuting frequently-heard arguments about the criteria proposed for the Electronic Health Record “Meaningful Use” Incentive Program.
From the desk of ... Erin Mackay, Health IT
Meaningful Use March Madness
Welcome to Meaningful Use March Madness, a month of weekly blog posts refuting frequently-heard arguments about the criteria proposed for the Electronic Health Record “Meaningful Use” Incentive Program. Stay tuned all month!
From the desk of ... Arian Hull, Health IT
"A Health Exchange of One"
As an intern at the National Partnership for Women & Families (NPWF) and rising 2nd year law student, the hearing on Patient Generated Health Data (PGHD) provided eye-opening exposure to the need for patients to be active participants in every aspect of their care.
From the desk of ... Eva Powell, Health IT
How do Consumers View Health IT?
We are so excited to be able to share with you the results of an unprecedented study, commissioned to examine consumer views on health IT!
From the desk of ... Eva Powell, Health IT
Consumer Advocates Connect on Inaugural Webinar
We had a fabulous inaugural conversation for state-based consumer advocates working on health IT implementation this week!
From the desk of ... Alice Leiter, Health IT
Calling All State Advocates
Welcome. We are pleased to introduce this new blog — the first step in the process of creating an online community for state-level consumer advocates.
From the desk of ... Christine Bechtel, Health IT
In the Works: New Patient Rights
From the desk of ... Christine Bechtel, Health IT
What, No Tiara?
From the desk of ... Christine Bechtel, Health IT
Great News: 'Meaningful Use' Rule Released Today!
We've said it before and you know it's true: health information technology is for better health outcomes, not just better technology. And the new regulations released by the Obama administration show that they get it.
