New Your times reported that Walmart is out there, marketing solutions for electronic health care records. What? That was exactly my reaction! Could the distribution strategy using Dell + eClinicalWorks trigger a tsunami for interoperability and standardization? I gues only time will tell.
But, the cat is out of the bag since the move signifies commoditisation and hopefully the much needed standardisation of information interchange. The next move is to expect these systems to "talk" seamlessly to Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health so that my doctor can actually syndicate data about me to my personal site, powered by HealthVault. HealthVault will not be run by Microsoft, but by the health care providers (but powered by Microsoft technology).
The Obama stimulus package can actually stimulate better services as a side effect. Now, I wonder when this type of services would arrive here in Norway? Today, I still have to look at the screen on my doctors PC to see the medication he prescribed or the results of the tests he has conducted..... and then I need to go to the hospital to see the records they have of me there.. and then to the Emergency ward to see what they have on me. I'm sure you get the get the picture.
I hope Walmart's strategy succeeds (I do not own any Walmart shares). Its just that we may then be able to see some creative services emerging.
