OPTIMIZERx Connects With Microsoft HealthVault to Reduce Medication Costs
OPTIMIZERx has announced that its Web-based consumer information site, which provides information about prescr"+"iption medicine savings, is now integrated with Microsoft HealthVault, a personal health application platform. For HealthVault users that store their medication inventory within their personal HealthVault account, this connection enables access to prescr"+"iption coupons, cost-saving notifications, co-pay savings, and trials, which can help them better adhere to treatment regimens in a more affordable way, and OPTIMIZERx users can upload their medication records into their HealthVault account, enabling them to create a more comprehensive health profile.
\"We are excited to be working with Microsoft HealthVault to further expand our reach and ability to help more consumers better afford their rising prescr"+"iption costs through available prescr"+"iption savings and other support programs,\" stated David Lester, Chief Executive Officer of OPTIMIZERx.
\"We developed HealthVault with the goal of engaging consumers as active partners in their health and wellness management,\" said David Cerino, General Manager, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. \"This collaboration enables HealthVault users to better manage their medication spending and provides users of OPTIMIZERx with access to a broad network of health and wellness services within our application ecosystem -- enabling decisions based on a more robust, longitudinal view of their health history.\"
The connection between OPTIMIZERx and Microsoft HealthVault has been established and consumers can begin saving on their prescribed medications as entered into their HealthVault accounts today!
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Growth in Personal Health Record and MyESafeDepositBox Membership
Robert H. Lorsch, Chairman and CEO of MMR Information Systems, Inc. announced to an audience gathered for the Health Technology Investment Forum in San Francisco that the Company is projecting membership growth from its MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record (PHR) and MyESafeDepositBox services in excess of one million members this year. This is in addition to the PHR growth from patients who take advantage of the free patient portal at MMRPatientView integrated with its MMRPro service for physicians and subsequent patient upgrades. Lorsch also announced that MMR is ready to deploy Personal Health Records to the millions of Americans who are expected to be faced with the management of healthcare costs resulting from the signing of the health care bill and related legislation.
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Smart Card Alliance Calls for Two-Factor Authentication With Smart Cards to Overcome Medical Identity Theft
The Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council has released a new brief on the rising threat of medical identity theft, calling for the use of two-factor authentication with smart card technology as the ideal way to protect patient identities and information. According to a recent Ponemon Institute study, nearly 1.5 million Americans have been victims of medical identity theft with an estimated total cost of $28.6 billion. This is approximately $20,000 per victim. Though recent legislation, like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the associated provisions under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, highlights the need to address privacy and security across the U.S. healthcare system, no controls have been put in place to assure that patient information is always protected.
\"The individuals whose medical identities are stolen have to deal with lingering effects, like erroneous medical expenses, problems with insurance, and incorrect data on their medical records that can lead to potentially fatal medical errors,\" said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance. \"To prevent this, patients need an unambiguous way to identify themselves to their healthcare provider when accessing patient records or requesting healthcare services, whether it be in person or over a network. This brief explains how two-factor authentication with smart cards can accomplish this, and decrease medical identity theft.\"
In \"Medical Identity Theft in Healthcare,\" the Smart Card Alliance Healthcare Council describes how two-factor authentication with smart card technology allows patients and providers to securely access personal health information. Smart card technology is a proven technology, already used in U.S. electronic passports, and in the U.S. federal government's employee ID cards that are used to access the nation's most secure computer networks and facilities. The technology includes a tamper-resistant chip with security software that can be embedded into a card, token or mobile device (like a mobile phone). The smart card protects the patient's medical identity; they can use it to securely store personal health information, authorize provider access to that information, and securely transmit data to healthcare systems.
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