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First look at Microsoft HealthVault
A few weeks ago I posted this:
In Bit Literacy, Chapter 10 (page 124, if you have a copy) talks about the inevitability of technology companies wanting very much to mediate our access to our own health record. I propose a simple (and private) text file called " health".
Microsoft's entry is now up and running, at Microsoft HealthVault. The site proclaims itself "The revolutionary and FREE way to collect, store, and share your health information with Web sites and doctors." The last time I heard "revolutionary" applied to incremental Web services (and much of HealthVault is an overlay on Microsoft's live.com search engine) was in 1999 and early 2000. Deja vu.
I still think that people should learn how to store the basics of their own health log by themselves. It's private, secure, and FREE, and people can choose what to share with their doctors. What a concept! (See Bit Literacy for more.)
See also:
• Health information and bit literacy
• Clip - Microsoft and health care
• Positive review of HealthVault on The Medical Quack, a health blog
(via Kevin Kelly, who I'm surprised would sign up)
P.S. Shown at left: much of the text on the HealthVault site is small and gray on a white background (which needed to stop years ago, but I think I've lost that battle).
I have Cigna HMO with my job, and when I went online at Cigna to update my account and indicate my primary care physician, there was also an option to send lab results to WebMD. Apparently WebMD has some sort of personal health tracker system -- I can understand that, being a health site -- but I was surprised to be given the option to share from my health insurance. I said no, very definitely no.
Mark
For a more realistic take on healthvault see.
http://www.johnon.com/413/health-vault.html
The summary. "Health Vault. Should be good some day, but right now, I think this is pretty scary stuff."
By the way since reading Bit Literacy I've created a Health file for the family. Powerful simple idea.
Dermot
Your linked article complaining about gray text also complains about too-small text.
Yet your own site has all the text at below default size, an eye-straining 8 pixels high on my screen.
Physician, heal thyself.