9M patients gain quick access to their own records

OAKLAND, CA – Nine million Kaiser Permanente patients can now access their own medical information anywhere in the world on mobile devices through a mobile-optimized website, Kaiser executives announced today.

Kaiser Permanente in January released a new app for Android devices, and users of other mobile devices, including the iPhone. The app provides full access to the patient information that resides on the Kaiser Permanente health record system with the mobile-optimized version of kp.org. An additional app for iPhone will be released in the coming months, but iPhone users can easily download a shortcut icon onto their home screens that will take them directly to the mobile-friendly kp.org with a touch of the finger, according to Kaiser.

Kaiser Permanente patients will have 24/7 access to lab results, diagnostic information, direct and secure email access to their doctors, and will also be able to order prescription refills.

The Android app is available now in the Android Market at no charge. Users of other mobile devices can access the same set of care-support tools at no charge through the new secure, mobile-optimized member website, which is available through smart-phone Internet browsers.

"This is the future of healthcare,” George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, said in making the announcement. “Healthcare needs to be connected to be all that it can be. This new level of connectivity is happening real time, and it is happening on a larger scale than anything like it in the world.

The fact that a Kaiser Permanente patient in an emergency room in Paris or Tokyo can simply pull out their mobile device and have immediate and current access to their own medical information is an evolutionary and revolutionary breakthrough for medical connectivity."

Kaiser’s CIO Phil Fasano said the benefits extend beyond patient engagement. "Mobile solutions can have a positive impact on health,” he said. “Healthcare, itself will be much more convenient for many people. The mobile-friendly site and app are also a springboard for new innovations that will inspire members to be aware of their health and take steps to improve it."

As Jack Cochran, MD, executive director of The Permanente Federation, sees it, the new access “is very good for patient care and will revolutionize connectivity by bringing healthcare for the first time to the level of connectivity other parts of our economy have achieved."