Here I am at the World Health Care Congress with what appears to be all the major movers and shakers in the healthcare sector, Chairmans, CEOs, Presidents, EVPs – some really big names, some very powerful players. Now I will never claim to be as brilliant as these people, after all, I’m writing this sitting in the audience and not up on the stage giving the presentation. But with all this cranium here at the conference, why do I hear so much dis-information?

For example, the session on PHRs and Consumer Engagement had panelists who could not accurately define the offerings of Dossia, Google, and Microsoft’s HealthVault and in some respects, had it completely wrong. These are the biggest players in this space, or at least will be soon, easily eclipsing WebMD, RevolutionHealth or any other PHR-like entity in the market today. Do they do this on purpose, or do they really just not know? Very disturbing when one thinks that these panelists were chosen due to their purported wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Another one is that red herring that I have ranted on in the past and is certainly a pet peeve, Privacy.  This issue still gets thrown out there by vested interests (and there are plenty of them here) who have little desire to release the records they control to some third party (or only reluctantly release them) that will stand between them and their relationship with the consumer.  Therefore, they throw out the Privacy Bogeyman to scare the consumer and it is really getting quite old.  I have yet to hear of one privacy breach at a PHR vendor, but weekly I hear of one breach after another at both payers and providers. So who is more secure?
The whining that physicians can not go digital because of costs. As I related in my notes from the first day, this should be viewed as an investment in the business.  Granted, there will not be an immediate ROI, but it will come in time, that I am sure of and ultimately, it will allow providers to participate in the future as more and more consumers look to engage their providers over the Web and desiring greater access and control over their records.  Again, a lot of dis-information on the topic that needs to stop.

Well, enough of my own whining.

There really are some great sessions here today including the keynote this morning from Safeway’s Chairman and CEO, Steve Burd. Safeway is doing some interesting things regarding promotion of health and wellness within their family of employees their families and even their customers.

Also intriguing story at EMC where to gain credibility for their PHR initiative, they brought in various medical research institutions to promote their ongoing clinical trials within the PHR and solicit employee participation.  Involving these research institutionsgave the PHR instant credibility and  was very instrumental in EMC’s internal push for PHR adoption. After about four years, adoption of the PHR at EMC stands at 50% of all EMC employees worldwide with adoption still growing.