New "Information Therapy" Book Changes How People Get Health Information:Information is prescribed, just like medicine.

Healthwise, Incorporated               
Contact: Brenda Foster   
Phone: 208-331-6963/208-345-1897 (fax)
E-mail: bfoster@healthwise.org   
Web site: www.healthwise.org                    
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New "Information Therapy" Book Changes How People Get Health Information: Information is prescribed, just like medicine.

Boise, Idaho, April 4, 2002—Information therapy changes the way people get health information. Instead of hunting for information on the Web or in bookstores, people will receive the information they need through prescriptions from their doctors, hospitals, or health plans. In their visionary new book, Information Therapy: Prescribed Information as a Reimbursable Medical Service, authors Donald W. Kemper and Molly Mettler lay out both the concept and the practical details of how information prescriptions will become a core and expected part of health care.

Information Therapy shows how integrating information prescriptions into health care will improve the quality of care and better meet the demands of today's consumer. Doctors agree that patients should be well informed about the treatments they receive, but two major barriers impede this objective. First, there is just not enough time in each visit for doctors to fully explain what patients need to know, and , second, much of what they cover is quickly forgotten. Information therapy is the fix, and the result is better-informed consumers, higher-quality care, fewer medical mistakes, and lower health care costs.

"Information is powerful medicine," said Kemper. "It is as important to a patient's health as any test, surgery, or medicine. That's why it should be prescribed to people right before or after a doctor visit, test, or surgery, and when they receive medicine."

David M. Lawrence, MD, MPH, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, said, "Information therapy, the radical idea that people should have access to accurate, evidence-based information as part of their treatment, is an important and visionary advance in medical care."

J. Edward Hill, MD, chair of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees, said, "Information Therapy's clearly identified strategies will improve overall health as much as expensive pharmaceuticals and new technologies. This remarkable book will have a profound impact on health care access, quality, cost, and outcomes."

Wireless technology makes it work.
Kemper and Mettler write, "The number and value of information prescriptions will multiply rapidly the moment that computerized order entry becomes mainstream. With wireless clinician PDAs, tablet PCs, or exam room desktop access for medication prescriptions, lab test orders, and medical record entry, the process of adding a clinically relevant information order will become almost automatic."

Consider Mary Morrison's sinusitis case, an information therapy (IxTM) example from the new book.

Using his PDA during the office visit, Dr Wood, Mary's family physician would have:

Tapped on Mary's name and ID number to identify the patient
·    Tapped on the name, dose, and duration of the prescribed medication
·    Tapped on Chronic Sinusitis for visit billing purposes (with the appropriate ICD-9 code attached)
·    Tapped to order the Sinusitis CT Scan
·    Tapped to indicate that a revisit has been scheduled
(All this is needed in the electronic medical record, anyway.)

Next Dr. Wood taps on the information therapy icon. At that point the PDA displays all of the following for selection, confirmation, or change:
·    Mary's name, ID number, and e-mail address for confirmation
·    Proposed Information Prescriptions
Sinusitis Overview
Sinusitis Exams and Tests
Sinusitis Treatment Overview
Sinusitis Prevention
Sinusitis Home Treatment
Sinusitis Medications
Sinusitis Surgery
Other Treatments
Amoxicillin
CT Scan for Sinusitis
·    Send visit prep package prior to revisit

Dr. Wood taps to select the "Home Treatment," "Sinusitis Surgery," and "CT Scan" prescriptions. Finally, he taps to okay the information prescription links. With just a few taps beyond his normal work flow, Dr. Wood has sent a personalized, targeted, and prescribed information prescription on its way.

See Mary Morrison's information prescription at: www.informationtherapy.org/examples.

Information Therapy is published by the Center for Information Therapy (CIT), a division of Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, a long-standing leader in empowering consumers with reliable medical information, also publishes the Healthwiseâ Handbook, Healthwise for Life, and La salud en casa in addition to producing the Healthwise Knowledgebase, an accredited, in-depth online resource and the Healthwise Decision Support nurse call center software.

About the authors
Kemper and Mettler are frequent coauthors and collaborators. Their books include Healthwise for Life, now in its fourth edition and with over 2.5 million copies in distribution. Donald W. Kemper is an internationally respected visionary in medical consumerism. He founded nonprofit Healthwise, Incorporated, in 1975 to help people make better health decisions. He has written five medical decision-support handbooks, which together have sold more than 22 million copies. Kemper is the founding chair of Hi-Ethics, the health Internet coalition that developed the standards on which the only health Web site accreditation program (URAC) is based. Kemper is also the founding chair of the Center for Information Therapy and chairman and CEO of Healthwise.

Molly Mettler has written extensively on aging, medical self-care, and health promotion, always shining the spotlight on the importance of the consumer. Particularly passionate about health care for people age 50 and better, she is board chair of the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) and was founding chair of the NCOA's Health Promotion Institute. Mettler directed the Healthwise Communities Project, which is being replicated in communities throughout North America. This health information initiative affirms that educated consumers, working in partnership with their doctors, make better health decisions.

To order the book
To order at the special introductory price of $24.95, call Healthwise at 1-800-706-9646 ext. 6934 or visit www.informationtherapy.org/r_book.html.




This article is courtesy of http://www.medic-care-aid.com
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in
your newsletter provided this courtesy notice, the author
name and URLs remain intact and clickable.

Submit Your Article