300 subscribers wanted for beta test of personal electronic health record
MONTREAL, July 8 /CNW Telbec/ - The McGill University Health Centre
(MUHC) announced today its strategic relationship with Quebec-wholly-owned
Medical.MD to provide Quebecers with MedforYou, a personal electronic health
record, launching simultaneously a call for 300 subscribers to evaluate the
beta site. MedforYou will be available to the rest of Canada and people around
the world in the near future.
"Giving Quebecers a Web-based logbook in which to track their health and
a host of features that can inform and influence their lifestyle choices is a
new way for the McGill University Health Centre to make a difference in
people's lives, stated the Hon. Arthur T. Porter, MUHC Director General and
CEO. "Health education is naturally part of our dedication to "The Best Care
for Life" and I am thrilled that MedforYou will extend the continuum of
patient care we provide to Quebecers of all ages, from Montreal and
Abitibi-Témiscamingue to Nunavik and other McGill RUIS regions."
Since June 2008, the McGill University Health Centre has been working
with the creative information-technology experts at Medical.MD on a
state-of-the-art personal electronic health record. MedforYou 1.0 is the
initial product. It will provide real-time, interactive support to subscribers
who wish to monitor their health and/or that of their family, as well as make
lifestyle choices, including nutrition and exercise, likely to have a positive
effect on their well-being.
"Medical.MD is honoured to be associated with the MUHC in this vital
health initiative," highlighted Pierre Ducros, Chairman of the Advisory Board
at Medical.MD. "The MUHC's leadership and commitment to purposeful innovation
fit perfectly with the acclaimed savoir-faire and goals of the MedforYou
team."
MedforYou's designer is Medical.MD's Chief Technology Officer, Philippe
Panzini, whose international reputation for excellence covers a number of
sectors including the film industry which recognized his software development
talent with an Academy Award.
Unlike the electronic health records being developed by the Government of
Quebec for the Ministry of Health and Social Services' network or hospital
medical records, MedforYou functions like an interactive Web site with a
billboard-like welcome screen and easy-to-navigate menus, vocabulary prompts
and features that should allow any individual, Web-savvy or not, to manage his
or her personal electronic health record. Initial promotion begins with the
beta test involving the first 300 subscribers to register at
https://www.medforyou.com.The MedforYou features to be reviewed include:
----------------------------------------------
- Allergies dashboard - Internationalization - Social habits history
- Immunizations - Medications dashboard - User demographics
dashboard - Procedures dashboard (partial)
- Family medical - Personal journal - Terminology engine
history - Data validation - 2-factor user
- Visits and - Providers dashboard authentication
appointments - Conditions dashboard"MedforYou is an essential complement to the electronic patient record
being implemented in our hospitals today," noted transplant surgeon Dr.
Jeffrey Barkun, Director of General Surgery and Chief Clinical Officer of the
Informatics Transition at the MUHC. "It will empower healthy Quebecers and
patients with health and wellness tools. I believe people will find the
scheduling function really helpful and having such a means to organize their
basic personal health information will undoubtedly improve communication with
healthcare professionals."
Feedback on the beta site will be gathered between July and September
2009. During this time, additional features will be completed. MedforYou 1.0
will be available to the public as of October 2009 with enhancements planned
for next year. Medical.MD has initiated discussions with TELUS Health
Solutions to onboard MedforYou to its new consumer health platform: TELUS
Health Space, Powered by Microsoft HealthVault.
About the MUHC
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic
health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical
programs, research and teaching. Its partner hospitals are the Montreal
Children's Hospital, the Montreal General Hospital, the Royal Victoria
Hospital, the Montreal Neurological Hospital, the Montreal Chest Institute and
the Lachine Hospital. The goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on
the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the
development of new knowledge. www.muhc.ca
About Medical.MD
Medical.MD has developed the Personal Electronic Health Record (PEHR)
under the name MedforYou. The company sees advances in computer science and
wireless technology as the foundation for the introduction of a higher quality
of health documentation that is both more useful and reliably secure. Building
expertise in leading edge software will transform the promise of personal
internet electronic health records into reality. Our goals are to enable users
to more easily maintain their health, support users in correctly following
their treatment, improve communications between patients and physicians, and
facilitate the understanding of symptoms, illness, treatment and recovery.
About TELUS Health
Solutions TELUS Health Solutions, backed by Emergis, represents a unique
set of technology, expertise and resources to help transform how information
is used in the healthcare industry. TELUS Health Solutions has years of
expertise in successfully implementing healthcare applications and information
communication technology processes through industry leading solutions and
consulting services to customers in Canada and around the world. It is backed
by more than 1,500 TELUS Health Solutions team members including healthcare
professionals. For more information, please visit telushealth.com.
For further information: Rebecca Burns, Communications Coordinator, MUHC
Public Relations and Communications, (514) 843-1560
