I got my Data

A while back several of us HIT Geeks and e-Patients were having a discussion about HIPAA, patient data access challenges, et cetera.  Prior to that I had written a post connecting the various dots between HIPAA, the Omnibus rule, MIPS and MACRA, and the Certiufication rule.

In that conversation I accepted an implicit challenge to get my health data via unencrypted e-mail.  I wrote to someone at my healthcare provider organization in early January and then got caught up in various meetings and never followed up.  Two days later I had gotten some resistance.  My healthcare provider has a portal, which I use and can quite easily get my data already, and in fact often do, which was probably another reason for resistance.

When I finally responded in early February with my acknowledgement of the risks and the fact that I understood them, I got my data the very next day.  I'd made my point.  Two emails and I had it.  Any delays in getting it were my own fault for not following up.

Caveats: I have a good relationship with my provider organization, and also know important thought leaders in that organization and they know me.  I was able to make points others might not be able to. But, when breaking trail, it's usually a good idea to put the person most experienced at it out in front, yes.  And that's where I was and what I did.

  -- Keith

GMDD: The new standard for patient engagement! Tweetup and Pitch at HIMSS13

It started with a tweet from @interopshowcase requesting volunteers for the Interoperability Showcase.  Then @ePatientDave asked me if I knew a way he could get into HIMSS.  I made the connection, and then suggested to the showcase sponsors that they should get him to speak as well as volunteer.

It's now gonna happen.  Dave will be speaking Monday, March 4th, at 4pm at the Interoperability Showcase.  His presentation doesn't have a title yet, but I suggested the same as the title of this post (up to the !), but we'll see what he comes up with.  While Dave is speaking, I'll be hosting a tweetup in the same location and time as Dave's talk (the tweetup really starts when he's done).  After he talks, I'll help walk interested folks through a demonstration that shows what IHE is doing to make it possible to get our damn data.

This is gonna be fun.

If you plan on going to the event, please RSVP here, so we know how many chairs we should have!  Registration is open to all attendees of HIMSS 2013.