Longwoods Blog
Vol.7 No.15 | July 21, 2010
FACTS and STATS
Individuals who e-mailed their physicians experienced better outcomes on management of two chronic diseases than people who did not e-mail, according to a new study of Kaiser Permanente patients, published in the July edition of Health Affairs.
The study examined 35,423 Kaiser patients in Southern California who have diabetes, high blood pressure or both. Researchers reviewed about 556,000 e-mail threads containing more than 630,000 e-mail messages. The study was conducted between 2005 and 2008.
The study found that patients initiated 85% of the e-mail exchanges. Eighty-eight percent of patients with diabetes who e-mailed their physicians had control of their blood sugar levels at the end of 2008, compared with 83% of diabetics who did not e-mail. The study also found that 73% of patients who e-mailed received screenings for retinopathy — an eye problem associated with diabetes — compared with 70% of patients who did not e-mail. Among patients who e-mailed their physicians, the study authors also recorded improvements in cholesterol control and screening, blood pressure levels and screening for kidney disease. The more frequently e-mails were exchanged, the greater the health improvements, researchers noted.
Source: Improved Quality At Kaiser Permanente Through E-Mail Between Physicians And Patients
Date: July 7, 2010
PRE-PRINT FROM ELECTRONICHEALTHCARE
How Much Does It Cost to Adopt an Electronic Medical Record? Part 2 of 2
Dave A. Ludwick
[Pre-print from ElectronicHealthcare, Volume 9, Number 2. Made available at no charge for two weeks.]
AROUND THE WORLD
U.S. Unveils New Guidelines for Electronic Health Records Plan
European Commission Tenders for e-Health Studies
Australia: Nehta Adds Final Touches to e-Health
NEWS FROM CANADA
Toronto: St. Michael’s Hospital connected to Diagnostic Imaging System
The Health Mentors Program at Dalhousie University in Halifax
TRENDS
Electronic Health Records Prime Clinicians to Provide Progressive Care to Older Adults
Some Doctors Join Facebook, Twitter; Others Wary
INDUSTRY SPEAK
HP Assists Healthcare Providers with Electronic Health Record Migration and Management
Siemens Aids Achieve Newly-Defined Criteria for ‘Meaningful Use’ of an EHR
MMRGlobal’s China Joint Venture Plans for Electronic Health Record Project in Henan Province
CANADIAN MARKET RESEARCH
Access up-to-date market intelligence on the Canadian healthcare IT landscape based on data from the HIMSS Analytics Canadian DatabaseSM. Research that can help healthcare IT vendors and consultants expand into the Canadian market and become more competitive in the space. ITAC members receive a 15% discount.
For more information click here
INFOWAY UPDATE
Find Out What’s New and Happening at Canada Health Infoway
WORTH NOTING
ITAC 2010 – Information Technology in Aged Care
IADIS International Conference e-Health 2010
IFHRO 2010: Congress of International Federation of Health Records Organizations
Know. Learn. Implement. SUBSCRIBE to the Longwoods eLetter.
eHealthRecord.info is made possible by an educational grant from: 
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 11:51 am and is filed under Longwoods Online.