Improved Web Tool for Maintaining, Sharing Health
History Released by Surgeon General
Health history tool also designed to help
caregivers make better use of this critical information - significant
help for senior citizens
Jan. 13, 2009 – A new “updated and improved”
version of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Internet-based family health
history tool was launched today by the Department of Health & Human
Services. The latest version makes it easier for consumers to assemble
and share family health history information. It is also designed to help
caregivers better use the data for better care.
“Family history has always been an important part
of good health care, but it has been underused,” said Acting Surgeon
General Steven Galson, a rear admiral in the U.S. Public Health
Service.
Free improved computer tool helps family share
information
Nov. 23, 2005 - Calling on all Americans to “know
their family history,” U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, recently
unveiled an updated version of a computerized tool designed to help
families gather their health information, and praised Brigham and
Women’s Hospital in Boston for joining in to expand the Surgeon
General’s Family Health Initiative.
Read more...
“Today, with our growing knowledge of genetics,
family history is becoming even more important. The new tool will help
consumers and clinicians alike. It will also serve as a platform for
developing new risk assessment software that will help in screening and
prevention of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions.”
Key features of the new version of the Surgeon
General’s My Family Health Portrait include:
● Convenience – Consumers can access the
tool easily on the Web. Completing the family health history profile
typically takes 15-20 minutes. Consumers should not have to keep
filling out different health history forms for different practitioners.
Information is easily updated or amended.
● Consumer control and privacy – The
family health history tool gives consumers access to software that
builds a family health tree. But the personal information entered during
the use of the tool is not kept by a government or other site.
Consumers download their information to their own computer. From there,
they have control over how the information is used.
● Sharing – Because the information is in
electronic form, it can be easily shared with relatives or with
practitioners. Relatives can add to the information, and a special
re-indexing feature helps relatives easily start their own history based
on data in a history they received. Practitioners can help consumers
understand and use their information.
● EHR-ready, Decision support-ready –
Because the new tool is based on commonly used standards, the
information it generates is ready for use in electronic health records
and personal health records. It can be used in developing clinical
decision software, which helps the practitioner understand and make the
most use of family health information.
● Personalization of care – Family
history information can help alert practitioners and patients to
patient-specific susceptibilities.
● Downloadable, customizable – The code
for the new tool is openly available for others to adopt. Health
organizations are invited to download and customize, using the tool
under their own brand and adding features that serve their needs.
Developers may also use the code to create new risk assessment software
tools.
“This valuable tool can put family histories to
work to improve patient well-being and the quality of care,” HHS
Secretary Mike Leavitt said. “The tool is built on health information
technology standards that make it more convenient for consumers and more
useful for practitioners. It is ready for use in electronic health
records. And its software code will be openly available to other health
organizations, so they can customize and build on its standards base.”
The first adopter of the HHS-developed tool is the
National Institute of Genomic Medicine of Mexico (INMEGEN). Dr. Gerardo
Jimenez-Sanchez, director general of the institute, will release the
Mexican Spanish-language version of the tool in Mexico City this month.
The Mexican family health history tool will be available on the INMEGEN
Web site,
http://www.inmegen.gob.mx.
The Indian Health Service, an agency of HHS that
was instrumental in developing the new Surgeon General tool, will also
adopt it into the IHS care system.
One organization saying it will link to the new
tool is the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), a cancer advocacy
organization.
“A strong family health history tool can be an
important element for guiding medical decision-making, especially in the
area of cancer screening, prevention and early detection,” said LAF
founder and chairman Lance Armstrong. “This tool will further the
capabilities of electronic health records and takes a significant step
toward improving clinical care.”
The Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait was
originally launched in 2004, but the first version was not
standards-based. The new tool was developed under Secretary Leavitt’s
Initiative on Personalized Health Care. It will be hosted by the
National Cancer Institute, where the caBIG® initiative is pioneering
health IT networks and software sharing.
Jan. 13, 2009 – A new “updated and improved”
version of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Internet-based family health
history tool was launched today by the Department of Health & Human
Services. The latest version makes it easier for consumers to assemble
and share family health history information. It is also designed to help
caregivers better use the data for better care.