In today’s Wall Street Journal, Laura Landro devotes her biweekly “The Informed Patient” column to profiling information therapy (Ix) initiatives. Landro describes the Center for Information Therapy (IxCenter) and Ix programs developed by IxAction Alliance members Kaiser Permanente, Group Health Cooperative, and Healthwise.

Landro highlights how the consumer-dissociated health information technology debate inside the Beltway has not focused on how HIT will actually benefit consumers, and how Ix initiatives provide real-world solutions for engaging consumers. Landro’s column begins, “If all the talk in Washington about using electronic medical records to cut health-care costs makes your eyes glaze over, it might help to consider the experience of Holly Jacobson.”

Jacobson is one of the 2.8 million Kaiser members taking advantage of the real-world Ix solutions that truly engage consumers in managing their own care and improving their lives. Landro quotes Jacobson, who says that Ix initiatives have led to “a significant shift in my ability to become more of an advocate for my own health care.”

Landro quotes Paul Wallace, Chair of the IxCenter Board of Directors, “Information therapy can help bridge the transition from doctors doing things to and for people, to helping them become active participants in their own care.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Patient Stories, The Media and Information Therapy (Ix). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.