Health News and Scoops

MMR Information Systems, Inc., which through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. (collectively, “MMR”) provides consumer-controlled Personal Health Records (“PHRs”) (www.mymedicalrecords.com) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions (www.myesafedepositbox.com), offered an extensive demonstration of its new MyMedicalRecords Pro (“MMR Pro”) electronic medical record storage system and integrated MMRPatientView PHR product for doctor offices and their patients at the annual Health Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) show in Chicago.

The system gives physicians the ability to generate ongoing revenues by enabling patients an upgrade option to a MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record. MMR believes the system is being designed to comply with standards necessary for physicians to receive qualifying reimbursement for installation and integration from stimulus monies.

The MMR Pro service is designed to help doctors, particularly sole practitioners and small group practices, better manage their paper records by scanning those records to a secure Web-based portal at www.mymedicalrecordsmd.com, where they are viewable by the doctor 24/7 from any Internet-connected computer. Scanned records are automatically placed in designated folders that correspond with the tabs in a patient chart.

The doctor also is able to share records with his patients through a special portal at www.mmrpatientview.com, thus creating a communications link between doctor and patient.

“MMR received validation of its Personal Health Record from leading hospital IT executives and the consulting community, citing MMR’s Personal Health Record as ‘the best full-featured PHR at the show,’” said Gene Barduson, MMR Healthcare Market Strategist. “Based on the reaction at the show we believe that MMR’s PHR could be offered to as many as three million patients by the end of 2010 through EMR system suppliers.”

“We are proud of our integrated medical record storage and Personal Health Record system that helps doctors deal with the ever-increasing flow of paper records in their practice while affording them a seamless way to provide the information to patients who can then play a more active role in their own care,” said Robert H. Lorsch, Chairman and CEO of MMR Information Systems, Inc. “With all of the attention on Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), it is important to remember that the vast majority of doctors still run their practices with paper records. MMR Pro is designed for doctors who want a cost-effective solution to digitize those paper records on a patient forward basis.”

Source

The baby boomers are arriving, and they are arriving into the ‘senior’ category.  All around the world, the number of seniors is expanding off the charts.  The US Census Bureau released data this week showing that the number of seniors will be greater than the number of children under the age of 5, which is a very rare situation.  A study based on the census report titled “An Aging World: 2008″ published the following findings:

• The world’s oldest country is…Japan! 21% of Japan’s population is over the age of 65, compared to 13% in the U.S.  The study points out, however, that because of the good ‘ol baby boomers, the U.S. will probably win this category relatively soon.
• In the year 2006, zero biological children were born to women between the ages of 40 and 44.
• Europe is the oldest continent, because it holds 23 of the 35 countries found to be the “oldest.”
• A set of people over the age of 80 are called the “oldest old,” and the number of the oldest old is growing faster than any other population category in most countries.
• Developed countries have more seniors.

Some of these findings come as no surprise, such as the first one.  We have all been waiting with our breaths held while the baby boomers age and our society shifts to accommodate.  I will assume that no one is surprised that China would win a category when it comes to any number of people (although if we have learned anything, it is that the whole age thing is relatively sketchy when it comes to China).
The second finding is just odd.  I’m not exactly sure what would make the researchers pull this statistic, but they claim that this may be a problem in the future when that set of women do not have children to take care of them.  I’m sure that the children they had prior to forty will be sufficient; or the children born to them in 2005 or 2007.  Don’t worry too much about these ladies, they’ll be fine.
The most important part of this study is not the specifics, however, it is the effect that this data will have on each nation’s society.  I can’t speak for other countries, but as far as the United States goes, the aging population will most likely have the most profound effect on the health care system (and probably something to do with retirement benefits, banks, etc, but I don’t understand any of that).  The aging population, and I truly do not mean any disrespect, will be using greater than 70% of the nation’s health care funds.  This is because the elderly are already using 70% as of 2008, so with the number of seniors increasing exponentially, we can expect this to increase.
In addition to funds being funneled into this newly aging population, there remains the question of who will be administering health care.  Will there be enough physicians to take on the new load?  As we all know, the elderly are generally the sickest, and in almost all cases have compounding medical problems rather than one.  Nearly all seniors suffer from one to three chronic conditions, and cancer is prevalent.  The health care reform that may take place not far from now should certainly take into account that the physicians will be the saviors of this era.  Money will not solve this impending situation.