Five U.S. Firms To Fund EHR Network for Employees as Way To Reduce Costs

Five U.S. companies that provide health care coverage for 2.5 million employees, retirees and dependents announced on Wednesday that they will offer an interoperable electronic health record system beginning in mid-2007, the Los Angeles Times reports. The companies -- Applied Materials, BP America, Intel, Pitney Bowes and Wal-Mart Stores -- each contributed about $1.5 million toward development of the system, called Dossia. Officials from the companies said the system eventually could lower health care costs by billions of dollars annually by reducing medical errors, improving management of chronic conditions, eliminating duplicate services and creating other efficiencies (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 12/7). Dossia will be operated by the Omnimedix Institute, a Portland, Ore.-based not-for-profit, and the five employers will not have access to users' personal health information (Lopes, Washington Times, 12/7). Participation will be voluntary, and users must grant permission to providers or other individuals to access the records (Hopkins, CQ HealthBeat, 12/6).

New System
Dossia is based on the Connecting for Health Common Framework, a set of health care information technology guidelines developed by a public-private collaborative (CQ HealthBeat, 12/6). The system can accept manually or electronically inputted data from existing health records, and users can add their personal family health histories to their records (Washington Times, 12/7). Users can enter their health records on their own, or the system can automatically collect data from pharmacies, physicians, hospitals, insurers or other electronic sources. Images, such as X-rays, also can be entered into the system (Los Angeles Times, 12/7). Records in the system can be printed or electronically transferred, and users will be able to continue to use the records if they change employers, health plans or providers, according to the companies (CQ HealthBeat, 12/6). The records will be users' lifelong property, with access continuing into retirement and within the Medicare system. Omnimedix hopes to offer the Dossia to other companies in the future for a per-employee fee.

Privacy Concerns
Some privacy advocates said employees should avoid using EHRs until the federal government acts to create stronger privacy safeguards, the Los Angeles Times reports. Deborah Peel, head of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, said, "We've got to have privacy first in order to get the benefits of health information technology." Such protections should include a right for patients to sue over unauthorized disclosures, Peel said. Alison Knight, an attorney with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said, "The new Congress has a chance of putting in some better privacy safeguards" (Los Angeles Times, 12/7). ). J.D. Kleinke, chair and CEO of Omnimedix, said that Dossia will protect users' privacy through an authentication system and other safeguards (CQ HealthBeat, 12/6). Kleinke said, "What Congress could do is use a light hand in further regulation of privacy. There is tremendous risk if it is done in a draconian way" (Los Angeles Times, 12/7).

Company Comments
Intel Chair Craig Barrett said Dossia "should make the health care process simpler, more straightforward, more cost-effective" (Freking, AP/Houston Chronicle, 12/6). Barrett added, "Health care costs have gotten as expensive as they can get. ... This project will help us cap health care costs" (Washington Times, 12/7). Kleinke said, "Dossia will empower individuals to manage their own health care, improve communications with their doctors and ensure more complete and accurate information for health care providers than the current fragmented, paper-based system." Kleinke added, "[W]e're not counting on Congress" to pass legislation that would encourage wider use of EHRs. Such legislation stalled this year (CQ HealthBeat, 12/6). Linda Dillman, an executive vice president at Wal-Mart, said companies would like the federal government to designate funding for EHR development. She added, "We felt we could be an employer, a business that's playing a leading role in activating others. We think business can make the change happen faster than it's happening today" (AP/Houston Chronicle, 12/6).

Additional Comments
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in a statement said, "The leadership of these companies in offering personal health records is encouraging, and I hope more employers will make similar commitments soon. We know that the use of health IT based on recognized standards leads to better health care for patients at lower cost and with less hassle." CDC Director Julie Gerberding said Dossia could be used for disease and epidemic prevention (CQ HealthBeat, 12/6).

Broadcast Coverage
Several broadcast programs reported on the Dossia program:

• APM's "Marketplace": The segment includes comments from Eric Brown, vice president of the health care practice at Forrester Research, and Peel (Grech, "Marketplace," APM, 12/6). A transcript and audio of the segment are available online.
  


• NPR's "Day to Day": The segment includes comments from Janet Babin, a reporter on the innovations desk for APM's "Marketplace" (Pesca, "Day to Day," NPR, 12/6). Audio of the segment is available online.
  


• PBS' "Nightly Business Report": The segment includes comments from Barrett; Dr. Douglas Henley, executive vice president of the American Academy of Family Physicians; Kleinke; and Joy Pritts, assistant research professor at the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University (Dhue, "Nightly Business Report," PBS, 12/6). A transcript of the segment is available online.