Sharing Orders with Patients

In previous posts, I've talked about the perfect storm for innovation - alignment of an idea, policy, technology, people, and incentives.    Roni Zeiger, a world class informatician who provided physician leadership for the Google Health project in the past,  recently suggested an idea which I think has the potential for significant innovation in the world of patient and family engagement - Patient Friendly Orders.Here's an analogy.Last night I went to a neighborhood grocery store, Roche Brothers, to purchase a few vegetables.    They were having a sale on romaine lettuce and a special bar code on each lettuce reminded the checker to give a dollar off per head.Next to the cash register, a "consumer friendly display" showed each item scanned in plain english, not some odd abbreviation like Rmne Lttc, and its price.   At the end of checkout, I noticed she forgot to scan the dollar off discounts, so I pointed to the display, identifying the problem.   She immediately corrected it.Imagine if every patient had access to a web page of their current hospital orders in patient friendly terminology i.e.You are receiving an antibiotic called Ceftriaxone to treat your lung infection.  It is being given once per day in your IV.You are receiving Tylenol for your fever.   It will given every 4-6 hours as needed for fever.   You may requested it for pain but note that no more than 8 tablets will be given per day because more could adversely ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - Category: Technology Consultants Source Type: blogs