1. White House appoints new CTO, deputy
The White House officially announced the new national Chief Technology Officer this Thursday via blog post. Former Google Executive, Megan Smith, will succeed Todd Park as CTO with former Twitter General Counsel, Alexander Macgillivray as her deputy.
Smith served as a seasoned executive at Google where she most recently directed her attention at the Google [x] project, concentrating on research and development for long-term technological advancement. Google [x] is currently in the process of developing a contact lens that detects glucose levels in tears to help those with diabetes manage their health. Google also recently partnered with AbbVie pharmaceuticals to experiment with aging treatment.
Macgillivray made his name at Twitter serving as Twitter General Counsel and is popularly recognized as a proponent of free speech online. The Obama administration maintained that he will concentrate on ““Internet policy, intellectual property policy, and the intersection of big data, technology and privacy.”
Source: Modern Healthcare, 9/4/14
2. 3 per cent of patients have EPR access (UK)
New figures recently released by the HSCIC report that fewer than 3% of patients have access to their GP medical records online. The government had promised universal online access to GP records by April 2015 but that statement has been significantly scaled back and now all GPs must “have access available or have published plans to do so” by next month.
Though 17% of practices don’t possess EPR functionality, only 2.9% of practices who are able to activate EPR access have done so, while nearly 80% of GPs who also have the capability to grant online access have not switched it on. The same study found that among those allowed to view their records, significant numbers of patients were accessing test results online instead of telephoning or making appointments – which is good news for efficiency and patient experience.
The few practices who have enabled patient access have experienced low levels of uptake, however EHI reported last week that a survey published in the London Journal of Primary Care reported that allowing patients to access their records could decrease the need for time consuming phone calls and appointments.
Source: eHealth Insider, 8/29/14
Graphic of the Week: What’s missing from most health care marketing programs?
