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Our Philosophy
Health care. It is an
issue that is as complex as it is personal. From our personal health
concerns to the global economic impact of health care delivery, it’s
not just “the medical care” alone, but a worldwide
economic and political juggernaut. If you don’t believe it,
consider that most of the countries of Europe and North America spend
10-14% of their gross national products (GNP) on health care
expenditures.
As a physician and
consumer, I deal with the issues of healthcare on a first-hand basis
every day. I live one set of challenges as a provider of healthcare
services, another as an employer, and others still as a patient. In
my opinion, the medical aspect of “health care” generally
does a good job. We are living longer and in conditions that are much
better than those 100 or even 50 years ago. Think about life before
the advent of antibiotics or advances such as angioplasty, cancer
care, transplant, or open-heart surgery. Yes, there are things that
are not perfect, yet health care is of such great importance that
frankly, it should never be viewed as being” perfect” or
“fixed”. We should always strive to improve our
understanding of medicine, enabling technologies, and health care
quality. Some of the biggest challenges in health care relate to the
systems we currently use to deliver it.
Western health care
delivery tends to utilize a “damage control” philosophy.
Health problems occur and then they get treated. While the vast
majority of health conditions are treated this way (an exception
being childhood immunizations), this approach is not the most cost
efficient. Considering our current levels of spending, it is unlikely
that countries have the resources to continue in this mode
indefinitely. Society needs to embrace the concept of being
pro-active rather than re-active when it comes to
health care concerns. In the long run, it’s less expensive and
better medicine. Health is a lifetime commitment for those who want
to get the most out of life.
One area of particular
concern to all of us at TouchNetworks is the way medical information
is conveyed within our current health care delivery system and its
potential to adversely impact patient safety. Think about the first
time you went into a specific doctors office and all of the forms you
were asked to complete. While some pertained to the business aspect
of medicine, most related to your personal health. In fact what you
were asked to do is document of all of your past and current health
problems. Those who see more than one physician find themselves
completing a new set of forms (typically conveying the same
information) for each particular office. Going to a hospital,
emergency room, or urgent care center is no different. In these
environments, nurses as well as the physician each ask the same set
questions and try to collect, for themselves, the exact same
information! While this sounds more like a comedy routine rather than
the actions of professionals, the standard come-back is that the
information needs to be checked and re-check to ensure its accuracy.
Accuracy? The reality of the situation is that the source of
the information is an ill patient. How many of us are really in the
mood to play 1000 questions when we are not feeling well? Under these
circumstances, patients may not recall remote events, omit
information they consider to be insignificant or unrelated, and are
likely tired of repeating themselves. Wouldn’t a better
approach be for each one of us to keep a personal journal or log of
our health history as it happens and keep it up to date when we are
feeling well? Occurrences such as a surgical procedure,
hospitalization, change in a past or present medical condition,
development of an allergy, or the addition or change of a medication
are all important events that need to be accurately recorded and
conveyed to the professionals who require that information to improve
your health. This is what TouchNetworks’ H.U.B.™
is all about.
H.U.B.™ by TouchNetworks is a secure web based environment for you to store your personal
health information along with the tools to share it with those who
need it. ALL of the information runs on our secure network, is
encrypted, and controlled by you. We have developed a unique
authorization methodology (patent pending) that lets only the people
or institutions whom you authorize in advance,
permission to view (or add to in some circumstance) the health
information in your account. No permission, no access. Store your
health history, laboratory values, pathology reports, x-ray and other
imaging reports, photos, x-ray images themselves, educational
information, physician or hospital notes and documents, third party
content, or what ever else you find important to your health.
TouchNetworks will provide you with up to 64MB storage for free for
this purpose. We think of our H.U.B.™ as the essential core component of
a “universal chart”. It is a simple to use, intuitive,
yet extremely powerful health care tool for both you and your health
care providers, but it requires a commitment from YOU, the user, to
complete the information accurately and keep it up to date.
To work optimally, the
H.U.B.™ needs to become as ubiquitous as e-mail accounts. The greater the
participation, the greater the connectivity, and the greater the
effect on the health care system. We are adopting a grass roots
approach to getting started. Set up your account then tell 2 friends
or family members and 1 physician about us and encourage them to sign
up as well. We have no delusions about solving the world’s
healthcare problems overnight. There are many issues surrounding the
use of electronic medical record systems ranging from how to generate
medical documents to allowing various disparate systems to “talk”
to each other. We at TouchNetworks fully support those endeavors but
the reality is that it will likely take years to achieve these goals.
In the mean time, for physicians and patients, it is business as
usual… until now. Our H.U.B.™ represents a first step in the
development of a more efficient, affordable, and safe health care
delivery system. We think this is the best place to start…with
you, the patient, the source.
Mark Ombrellaro, MD
CEO
TouchNetworks, Inc.
Redmond, WA
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