Patient advocates want more say in health IT

Calling consumers "the most significant untapped resource" in healthcare, a coalition of consumer, labor, and patient advocacy groups has articulated a vision for a technology-enabled, communication-based healthcare system that considers patients both partners and leaders in their own care. "We are not interested in using technology merely to tweak a dysfunctional system; we want to transform it," reads the Consumer Platform for Health IT from the Consumer Partnership for eHealth, which includes organizations such as AARP, the National Consumers League, the National Health Law Program, and the American Heart Association. "We believe that consumer, patient, and caregiver engagement is the game-changing element of a comprehensive, effective strategy for reforming our overburdened, overpriced healthcare system, through more effective use of information," said the platform statement.