A new organ donor register has been launched which promises preferential treatment for anyone signing up, but doctors say it is not legally binding and is morally repugnant. Members who sign up to the Web site, called LifeSharers, agree to donate their organs when they die, but on the condition that those organs are offered first to fellow members.
A professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley and his colleagues have developed a portable medical scanner that can be plugged into a cellular phone, which transmits raw ultrasound or X-ray scanning data to a remote computer processor. The computer then converts the data to images and relays these back for viewing on the cell phone screen. The concept is a cheaper and easier alternative to conventional medical scanning service because one computer server does the imaging for many scanners.
Medicare has launched its pilot online personal health records program in South Carolina, which gives thousands of Medicare beneficiaries in the state access to a PHR populated with their hospital and physician claims information. Information on prescription drugs will not be provided, but PHR users can enter information on their prescription and over-the-counter medications. Through the program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hopes to learn more about people's use of PHRs and how to encourage them to use the tools, said CMS representatives.
California health regulators have connected 14 more people affiliated with UCLA Medical Center to the improper viewing of celebrity medical records, bringing the number of current and former workers apparently implicated in the snooping scandal to 68. Each of the employees had signed a confidentiality agreement after being hired promising to access patient information "only in the performance of assigned duties and where required or permitted by law," according to investigators. UCLA officials have appointed a committee to review privacy policies and have pledged to retrain staff and improve computer systems to increase security.
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has launched the Medical Electronic Data Interchange, which keeps data such as medication and immunization histories, lab orders and hospitalizations for Medicaid patients. In addition to keeping track of Medicaid patient data, officials say the database also helps reduce redundant care, especially when someone is seeing more than one doctors.
The Georgia Department of Community Health has awarded a $5.2 million contract to the IBM Corp. to build a Web site for state consumers in an effort to help them make more informed healthcare decisions. The Web site, scheduled to go online in October, will offer information about hospitals and where various procedures are performed. The Web site will also permit the comparison of hospitals in terms of cost, quality, customer service scores, and other related information.