We are on the verge of revolutionary change in health care delivery in the U.S., of the likes we have not seen in the last 50-75 years. And I believe physicians, the corresponding medical organizations, and the U.S. government are scared to death of these changes – because THEY will lose CONTROL! In fact, I think the U.S. government is more fearful than even of drug trafficking. And this revolution will come via new mHealth technologies & mobile apps.
Clearly, the U.S. government & industry have resisted changes to health care delivery. But mHealth apps will transition control of health care from the clinical setting/utilization review over to the patient as a consumer, and armed with many new customizable apps and combined with the power and offerings of the Internet. These new technologies and capabilities will enable Americans to be healthier, stronger, wealthier, happier, and more independent – and that just scares the crap out of you-know-who! These new technologies would also help make health care spending more transparent, and likely reveal huge amounts of spending wastes. And that too scares the crap out of you-know-who!
FDA and Congress would have us believe that they have been protecting our privacy through legislation such as HIPAA all along. But, I believe this has ever been about protecting our privacy. It’s been about stalling the capabilities and independence that mHealth would bring, and it’s transitioning control from the current clinical setting and utilization review, to a more transparent system that would give patient’s far more control and say so in their care.
With ObamaCare now coming into the fold in 2014, it will be interesting to see how these new features & coverages play into the new mHealth-concentric care model.
ABOUT ME: Began my career in 1976 as a nuclear imaging technologist, founded my own imaging company, and dev’d skills as a medical intuitive in 1981. Today I put on drum circles for the brain, and provide neurological monitoring & consults for the disorder hydrocephalus via my DiaCeph monitoring method I developed back in 1997.
I had also suffered a brain injury and CNS shunt placement in 1992, and have undergone 12 surgeries to date, with 7 of the devices that were used, and failed, not having been reported to FDA! In 1996, I had successfully petitioned FDA on several problem CNS shunt devices, then in 1997 designed & patented the DiaCeph Test, an early mHealth PDA app for hydrocephalus. Since then, I created many different AI methods for cognition & memory, and cognitive accessibility. I am also a writer & speaker. Based out of Newport Beach, California.
DolleCommunications Blog 
Over the last two months, I also undertook a new health advocacy strategy with my managed care health plan, in filing a “34-pg Grievance” over delayed authorizations and at least one incidence of denial of care.
By undertaking a thorough review of my records and plan correspondence, I discovered that the denials were based more on poor medical records keeping. So in my grievance, I listed my clinical history & signed the grievance under penalty of perjury so that this complete history would become part of my official medical history.
It is baffling how much of your history is created from your filling out those paper forms for each doctor, and how the forms & questions are poorly structured and offer little relevant information of your current health and complaints. Currently, your medical records and history are kept by each treating physician. And when you are referred to a new doctor, the new doctor will only have your records from the referring doctor, as incomplete as they may be. This is truly a flawed & outdated system!
At university & VA hospitals, as well as plans like Kaiser, your records are kept in a central database. Still, getting your current status, test results, and complaints to each and every physician you see remains a challenge. We’re really not far away from this information being integrated into mhealth & mobile apps. You can and should obtain copies of all your records, though many offices will take issue with you doing this. Once you’re received them, you can scan them into JPEG or PDF files, and especially so with all your x-rays & CT scans. Then you can have these available in your phone or memory stick for use when you need them. I find tablet devices like iPADs to be very handy during doctor visits.
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