OREANDA-NEWS. March 22, 2013. My Care PlusSM, a secure online patient portal developed by McKesson Specialty Health, is now being used by more than 25,000 patients across the United States. Derived from information entered by the patient’s physician into iKnowMed electronic health record (EHR), My Care Plus enables the practice to electronically relay secure health information, allowing the patient to conveniently access his/her medical information from anywhere with Internet connectivity. 

More than 40 community oncology practices across the country are now utilizing this innovative technology, and additional practices are continuing to implement My Care Plus. Enrolled patients are provided with online access to their personal health information, eliminating the need to request records directly from their physician’s office and wait for them to arrive by mail or fax. This quick and easy access empowers patients to take a more active role in their healthcare, contributing to better outcomes and fewer errors while providing an improved patient experience. Patients can review important details about their cancer diagnosis and stage, health-concerns, medications, allergies, as well as approved clinical lab results with physician comments. The health information can be downloaded and printed, providing a health record summary in a matter of minutes.

“We are excited to offer this valuable technology to oncology practices and their patients,” said Asif Ahmad, senior vice president of Information and Technology Services and chief information officer for McKesson Specialty Health. “Our goal is to make the cancer journey more patient-centered. The convenience of anytime, anywhere access to health records improves quality of care, helps reduce errors and costs, and eliminates some of the stressful inconveniences cancer patients often deal with during treatment.”

In addition, for Eligible Professionals to continue participation in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs and successfully achieve Stage 2 Meaningful Use, providing patients online access to their health information will be required. Practices using iKnowMed have the option to implement My Care Plus to make meeting this requirement easier. The combination of iKnowMed and My Care Plus allows practices to meet this and other patient engagement requirements while also improving practice efficiencies and communication with patients.

“Patients are already very comfortable using secure online tools to manage their finances, make purchases and communicate with others, so managing their healthcare online with My Care Plus is a natural progression forward,” said Dan Lodder, vice president of Technology Sales and Portals for McKesson Specialty Health. “As we expand our capabilities, we will concentrate on important patient needs and enhance our service to provide the best possible experience for the patient. Our vision for the future is to create more opportunities for interaction and enhanced communication between practices and patients, including secure messaging, educational content, health record transmission, plus much more.”

Patients treated at medical practices who use iKnowMed EHR are eligible to enroll in My Care Plus.