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Practice infrastructure is evolving to support a new model of health care as visit-based care proves inadequate to meet patients’ continuous health needs. Efforts to engage patients at home include patient portals which provide patients with the ability to schedule appointments, request prescriptions refills and in a growing number of cases, message their provider and view elements of their medical record.

While these ‘advanced e-health services’ offer important administrative services and move towards meeting national recommendations to offer patients ‘unfettered access’ to their medical record, there is an emerging movement to understand health and workflow needs from the patient perspective. Arguably, unless these specific needs are addressed, patients seeking inter-visit care will continue to have few alternatives except to contact their doctor’s office, where follow-up is likely to remain a frustrating experience for both patients and clinical staff.

The idea behind iHealthSpace is to optimally support the patient in the myriad tasks required to assess their current state of health, to manage problems appropriately and to prevent future medical complications. A connected virtual space in which patients can contribute to their health care with the support of their family and friends and in concert with their care providers will serve to reduce the fragmentation imposed by organizational boundaries and put the patient front and center in this new model of care.

LCS Project Contact: Jeanhee Chung