April 8, 2009 - NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s new electronic personal health record, myNYP.org, enables patients to access their medical information wherever and whenever they need it.
MyNYP.org uses Microsoft’s HealthVault and Amalga technologies to offer patients the ability to select and store personal medical information generated during their doctor and hospital visits at NewYork-Presbyterian. MyNYP.org uses a “pull model” in which patients proactively opt to copy their medical data into their own personal health record and access that information using a secure username and password with any Web-enabled device.
Free of charge, myNYP.org is now open to cardiology and cardiac surgery patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center as part of a hospital-wide initiative.
“The myNYP.org personal health record represents a significant step in the journey to create a completely connected health care system, from hospital to community, with the patient at the center,” said Herbert Pardes, M.D., president and CEO of NewYork-Presbyterian. “When patients can easily share their medical record with their physician or hospital, it reduces the need for excess paperwork and testing, which could mean lower costs, improved outcomes, reduction in medical errors and better care.”
MyNYP.org offers the individual the ability to consolidate and organize an unprecedented amount of medical information — medications; surgery reports; hospital discharge instructions; laboratory, radiology and EKG results; immunization schedule and history; allergy information; doctor and insurance information; emergency contacts and more. The health information provided by myNYP.org is annotated with customized explanations to help patients understand their medical tests and procedures and give them additional information about normal and abnormal results.
Patients can reference their actual, up-to-date health records, which are organized and stored through Microsoft’s Amalga and HealthVault technologies and stored by the patient in a personal account following visits to their hospital, doctors and healthcare providers.
“Our medical records are increasingly complex. This is especially the case for those of us who have moved or changed jobs, and even more so for older patients and those with chronic illnesses. The need for a quick and complete picture of a patient’s health is critically important, especially when a patient presents with an emergency like a heart attack when there isn’t a moment to lose,” said Mehmet Oz, M.D., director of the Cardiovascular Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center and vice chairman of the Department of Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. “MyNYP.org is not just about convenience, it’s about improving care,” he said.
For more information: www.nyp.org.