What do I need (must have) electronically to help me work with my health team?
- All team members (including me) operate off the same data set. This means that we know and agree what are the most important pieces of information about me (the minimum data set).
- That these pieces of information are collected somewhere, shared, merged, updated and corrected easily as needed.
- My health goals and plans to get there are explicitly stated.
- Able to track my progress to those goals.
- A safe, reliable way to communicate with my team members and my team members to communicate with me that works for me.
- A safe reliable way for team members to communicate with each other that gets recorded for me to see.
- Able to read, print, and transmit this information anywhere, especially somewhere unexpected outside my usual network-like an Emergency Room.
- Able to view notes my team members write about me.
What would I like to have?
- A description of how I react to pain and guidance for what works and doesn’t work to relieve pain for me.
- A description of how I react when scared and guidance for what works and doesn’t work to calm me down.
- Access to recommended places to get more information.
- Able to write notes with other team members or write notes myself that other team members can see.
None of these needs and likes are fully available now in spite of many years of effort and money spent on electronic records. The most progress has been made on #1 same data set, #6 safe, reliable communication, #7 read, print, transmit info, and #8 view notes. Many of these items are not even in the realm of discussion. Members of health team still mostly means doctors, nurses, and other acute care medical professionals, not community health or behavioral health providers. Still beating the drum for these magic levers of best health.
Great post!