The issue with the slow adoption of
PHRs is that consumers quickly realize what they have purchased is really just
an empty box, a bank account with no money in it. They begin to understand that a place to store their data is not as important
as the access to that data to begin with. Most PHRs leave it to the
consumer to gather their private information from less than cooperative
providers.
A real Health 2.0 solution involves
more than just a pretty box; it must contain valuable data regardless of what
the consumer contributes. It self-populates
important data, then allow the consumer to expand it if they choose.
I am the founder and CEO of the 21st
Century medical lab, MyMedLab. Our mission has been to remove the
barriers that consumers find when attempting to get more involved in their
health. We have seen first hand the frustration consumers encounter from
a health care system that “protects” them from their own information.
In November, we released the latest
version of our online portal providing consumers direct access to the same
diagnostic lab tests once only available to doctors. A simple consumer
friendly process allows them to choose from a list of the 100 Most Common Tests
as well as 20 Wellness Profiles based specifically on their age, sex and family
history.
Once they have chosen the
appropriate test and purchased it online, they visit one of 2000 participating
collection sites across the country at their convenience, without an
appointment to have their samples drawn.
Results, when complete, are reviewed
by a physician in their home state and automatically uploaded into their own
MyMedLab Personal Health Record (PHR). From inside their private PHR,
they can access detailed information about their results through the embedded
links to the National Library of Medicine.
For first time users, their initial
results create the “baseline data” and allow them to track changes in their
health over time. Our testing becomes a valuable tool for not only those
looking to find potential health problems early, but as a way for those with
chronic disease like Diabetes and Heart Disease to get directly involved in
their care.
The MyMedLab PHR allows consumers to
easily share this information, if they chose, with their family doctor by
printing them out before they next appointment or faxing their results directly
from inside their PHR.
David Clymer, CEO
MyMedLab | 
