UPMC Deploys Its Patient Portal on iPhones and iPads

In a recent post, I speculated about some of the reasons why I thought that Google Health was exiting the personal health record (PHR) business (see: Google Health Calls It Quits; Lessons Learned about PHRs or Not). Shortly after posting this note, an article came across my desk discussing the success of UPMC's patient portal and the fact that it was now going mobile (see: UPMC's patient portal goes mobile). Below is an excerpt from the article:

A health portal used by patients and doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is now accessible on iPhones and iPads, thanks to the new mobile HealthTrak application. With its innovative approach to managing patient health - through technology like eVisits and tethered records - easy access to the portal is becoming more important than ever....The HealthTrak portal is a powerful technological thread running through UPMC, helping to provide integration. "HealthTrak is a patient portal," said G. Daniel Martich, MD, chief medical information officer at UPMC. "It's a tethered electronic medical record and patient database. 'Tethered' means the provider and patient are able to look at the same data; it provides complete transparency." Essentially, what the doctor sees (lab data, test results) the patient sees as well....Through their HealthTrak accounts, UPMC patients are able manage their health using the Internet. The portal grants them the ability to schedule appointments, review medical histories and test results, renew prescriptions, and ask billing questions - all with the click of a keyboard. Now, using the mobile HealthTrak application, many of these functions are available by tapping the glass of an iPad or an iPhone. To access HealthTrak data using a mobile device, patients must secure a HealthTrak account by visiting UPMCHealthTrak.com. Mobile-users should then download MyChart from the iTunes Applications store, and select UPMC as the healthcare provider."We know that our patients need and want secure access to their medical records, even when they are on the go. With this mobile version of UPMC's HealthTrak, already used by more than 62,000 patients, we can offer them a convenient and free way to manage their care," Martich said.

This paragraph is largely self-explanatory as to why UPMCs "health portal" has been successful thus far and why it will continue to succeed. However, let me emphasize some of the reasons why I personally think the project is succeeding in comparison to the failed Google Health effort:

• First of all, it's probably no accident that HealthTrak is called a patient portal. The word portal means doorway. It's apparent that the UPMC IT gurus have constructed a "doorway" for patients, allowing them to access a broad set of services in addition to access to medical data such as appointment scheduling, prescription renewal, and generating billing questions. These are services valued by patients that, I am sure, are spurring wider patient adoption of the portal.
• In my opinion, the only viable option for patient portals/personal health records going forward is a tethered relationship to the hospital electronic medical record (EMR) (see: Increasing Patient Involvement with Their Personal Health Issues; The PHR as a Tool to Enable Consumers to Take Responsibility for Their Own Health). There are various ways to define the tethered PHR but I do like the one used above -- the patient sees what the doctor sees. The major point here is that the patient portal is populated with data, and provides valued services, because it is interfaced to the major hospital IT systems.
• Finally, no one can argue with the idea of deploying the health portal software on iPhones and iPads. It doesn't get any simpler than the instructions noted above about how to launch HealthTrak: To access HealthTrak data using a mobile device, patients must secure a HealthTrak account by visiting UPMCHealthTrak.com. Mobile-users should then download MyChart from the iTunes Applications store, and select UPMC as the healthcare provider.
• All of this is clearly a blueprint for success in terms of providing value to patients and enabling a service and data relationship with hospital IT systems.