http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503269.html?wpisrc=newsletter
A Social Network for Your Doctor, Pharmacist and Insurer
Imagine a virtual health clinic: Your lung doctor and heart specialist
can pull up your online medical profile and chat, via instant
messenger, about your medications. You schedule checkups online,
create a wellness journal or even rate your general practitioner.
WellNet Healthcare, a Bethesda health management company, is launching
the beta version of this social network, Point to Point Healthcare,
this month. Since 1994, WellNet has built its business collecting
detailed data on employees' medical and pharmacy activity so that
companies can better evaluate their cor****ate health plans.
WellNet's clients nationwide -- including Wa****ngton-area firms such
as Peterson Cos., Dewberry, and Kiplinger Wa****ngton Editors -- will
be among the first to test-drive the new system. It lets employees
create a personal network uniting their insurance claims manager with
multiple doctors and pharmacies to better coordinate treatments. An
online concierge helps workers find new specialists, and a message
system reminds them to pick up prescriptions.
Whether it all works remains to be seen.
WellNet must persuade its network of 300,000 primary-care doctors to
start working with patients on the Web.
"It depends how simple it is to use these online tools," said Joseph
Heyman, chairman of the American Medical Association's board. "Most
physicians right now are on a hamster wheel. They have trouble keeping
up. If it means extra work, and it's not a time-saver, they're
generally not interested."
Privacy advocates worry about the security of Web-based medical
records. Deborah Peel, founder of the Patient Privacy Rights
Foundation, said it is impossible to regain your privacy should the
intimate details of your health be stolen and made public.
"It's not like financial identity theft, where someone steals your
Social Security number, date of birth, where you live. You can fix
that. It takes time and it's a nightmare, but it can be corrected,"
Peel said. "There isn't any way to fix a violation of your sensitive
health records."
And others have reservations about what information employers will
have access to. WellNet said it plans to collect anonymous data
allowing employers to see, for instance, how many people are using
certain drugs and specialists -- something it already does under its
existing systems. The difference is that it would now do so in real
time by monitoring the social network. If a large percentage of a
workforce requires expensive diabetes medicine, but employees aren't
regularly filling prescriptions, WellNet said an employer can lower
the co-pay to make the drugs more affordable.
"It's just common sense," said Keith Lemer, WellNet's president.
Since WellNet deals with small and mid-sized companies, some worry
that it may be possible to uncover the identities of those nameless
employees. Or, instead of helping employees gain access to certain
medications, they could be coerced into buying cheaper, less-popular
generics.
"What if you have a very expensive employee who takes tons of
medicine? What does this mean?" Pam Dixon, executive director of the
World Privacy Forum, said about efforts similar to WellNet's. "These
are very sensitive areas."
WellNet said it knows it is diving into turbulent waters. The company
said its online workspace will be guarded by the legal protections
specified by the Health Insurance ****tability and Accountability Act
(HIPAA) and the same online security used by the banking industry.
Much like Facebook users, Point to Point members, who must opt in, can
control who can see the different parts of their medical profile.
WellNet isn't alone in pursuing such a network. The online health
industry is growing rapidly. Internet titans like Google and Microsoft
have put resources toward popularizing online medical records.
Insurers have been adding more online tools to help their members
switch doctors and check co-pay information. Arlington start-up
HealthCentral, an online destination for medical information, links
people with a particular disease to relevant doctors and blogger-
patients.
Revolution Health, founded by former AOL chairman Steve Case in the
District, aims to be a one-stop shop for health, offering online tools
that help individuals manage their own well-being. For employers, it
runs a telephone-based service where members can get help resolving
insurance quarrels, scheduling appointments and answering health
questions -- what Case once called "AAA for health care."
Janice Algie, Peterson's director of human resources, said she
wondered if her employees would use more online tools like Point to
Point.
"It's difficult to get them involved in their own health care," she
said. "Every time a claim is processed, whether it's health insurance
and dental insurance, it's submitted and tells them what they owe. I
can't tell you how many employees look at those. Even though they have
online access, they still don't look at them."
But perhaps it's generational, Algie said. With few entry-level
positions, about 45 percent of Peterson's workforce is age 40 and
above.
Dell Nunaley, Dewberry's human resources director, said WellNet's
program might help guide employees, who are often bombarded with too
many health-care choices.
For now, to entice more users, WellNet will give companies the program
for free if they transfer their pharmacy benefits to WellNet. When it
opens this service to others early next year, it will start charging a
licensing fee.
"It's all about productivity," said Henry Cha, chief executive of
Healthcare Interactive, a Glenwood software company that developed
Point to Point. "You're in a rat race. You already do online banking.
You shop online. You make payments online, just to make sure nothing
falls through the cracks."
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