Empowering the Patient

While it is possible to gain volumes of information on practically any subject by performing a simple Google search, most people around the world are unable to gain comprehensive access to their own personal medical information. Patients’ records in most countries are typically managed and controlled by multiple healthcare providers. Over the last few years there was an enormous push across the Netherlands to motivate patients to take a more active role in their own disease management. But this was a daunting task for most citizens who had very little personal medical information at their finger tips.

And while legally all Dutch citizens are allowed access to their medical records, the process for collecting the information was tedious, complex and often incomplete. It was a patient’s responsibility to ask each of their healthcare providers for a hard copy of their files. Because the records were collected from different sources and in different formats, the information was inevitably disjointed and difficult for the patient or other healthcare providers to gain an accurate and comprehensive view of their medical history. In some cases, for example if the person was seeking a second opinion, patients were also hesitant to ask their doctor for a copy for fear of offending them.

Medischegegevens.nl

Progress Business Partner MyOwnFile B.V. had ambitious plans to change that process. Geert Kampschöer, Founder of MyOwnFile explains: “Our goal was to shift the provider-based process to one that empowers the patient. With comprehensive, real-time access to their own medical files, the patient has the opportunity to direct the course of the treatment of their own disease. They can go to any doctor, any hospital anywhere in the world knowing they will always have access to the most up-to-date information about their medical history. They also have the power to grant access to that information to any healthcare provider of their choice.”

Sound impossible? Not so for MyOwnFile, who started with Dutch hospital Medical Center Haaglanden (MCH) a full-service hospital treating 200,000 patients annually. MyOwnFile has been working with MCH for three years to develop and implement Medischegegevens.nl, the first technology independent Web-based Personal Healthcare Record (PHR) in The Netherlands. Most Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) are used by healthcare providers for internal use only.

Healthcare Providers Benefit

“We know from extensive research that patients are far more effective at treating their own disease when they have access to all of their own medical information. There is also a reduction in the number of hospital visits if the data is readily available,” says Kampschöer.

Medischegegevens.nl is an innovative, patient-centric PHR that delivers near real-time, comprehensive access to a person’s medical records. The solution has been seamlessly integrated with MCH’s internal applications. As information is added or modified in the hospital’s systems, the data is automatically reflected in the patient’s records. The information is uploaded to Medischegegevens.nl every 12 hours to ensure the records remain current. For certain information a longer delay is anticipated depending on logistical impacts and patient doctor relationships; e.g. in case of oncology diagnosis.

Given the release of information, some specialists within the hospital have already restructured their outpatient clinic logistics. Patients now return for their follow-up appointments based on when their results are available and/or on the content of diagnostic results, not on a predetermined span of time as was the case before.

To access their information, a patient can logon to the system via a secure Internet connection including a sms TAN code system. Using an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) they are able to immediately gain access to their entire medical history from any location in the world and at any time. The patient also has the ability to grant other medical providers access to the information. As an added security measure, MyOwnFile conducts a background check on all providers prior to granting them permission to a patient’s files.

Future providers that use MyOwnFile will achieve numerous business benefits, including reduced costs. As patients gain direct access to their own medical information, they will make fewer visits to the hospital. Hospitals will improve their margins by delivering patient care with less physical interaction. For larger teaching hospitals, there are tremendous costs associated with the voluminous exchange of information that takes place between the different healthcare providers. Medischegegevens.nl will streamline the exchange of this information and reduce the associated costs. And by running more efficient and effective outpatient clinics, hospitals will also realize cost savings.

A Shared Passion for Innovation

Medischegegevens.nl was built on the Progress® OpenEdge® business application development platform and the Progress® Sonic® Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). OpenEdge is integrated with most of MCH’s existing internal applications. All new or modified information is assembled every 12 hours in the client systems and then automatically sent over a secure line to the MyOwnFile Web-based portal through Sonic ESB. With security top of mind, MyOwnFile and Progress have put in place a series of real-time checks and controls to ensure that only the data related to individual subscribers is transferred.

“We know that our system is completely secure. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has audited both the setup of the system and the procedures and verified that they meet all privacy and national health laws,” says Kampschöer. “We even hired professional hackers to test the security of the system; they weren’t able to find a single crack.”

The flexibility of Progress technology has also enabled MyOwnFile to customize the solution to meet MCH’s specific needs and to allow for a time delay on sensitive information. For example, a pathologist may not want information released immediately that contains details about a patient’s cancer diagnosis until he has had the opportunity to speak with the patient in person.

Kampschöer says MyOwnFile chose to partner with Progress on this project because the two companies share a passion for innovation and collaboration. “Not only did Progress have the competitive technology to address the functionality we required, but they share our long-term vision of motivating change across the industry by empowering the patient to take control of their own healthcare.”

MyOwnFile BV

MyownFile was founded by two physicians. A generalist turning entrepreneur, dr Geert Kampschöer, and a vascular surgeon, dr Alexander de Vries. The company sole focus is creating and delivering ´medischegegevens.nl´.

www.medischegegevens.nl