This free 90-minute teleconference will explore the latest research on how patients can utilize health IT to increase participation in their healthcare.
Date: April 8, 2010, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m., MT
Sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) National Resource Center for Health IT
To register for the teleconference, please click here to register.

Presenters:
• Alexander Krist, M.D., M.P.H., serves as an Assistant Professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. The majority of his research is conducted through the VCU Department of Family Medicine’s multidisciplinary research team and its practice-based research network (the Virginia Ambulatory Care outcomes Research Network) of more than sixty primary care practices, spanning six health systems assembled to coordinate on research projects. In 2004 he helped direct his practice to implement a paperless electronic health record including e-prescribing, laboratory and radiology interfaces, electronic billing, performance monitoring, and a registry for population management.
• Christine Ritchie, M.D., M.S.P.H., is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine’s Center for Palliative Care. She holds the title of Director of the UAB Center for Palliative Care and Director of the Palliative Care Section within the Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. She served as the VA Network 9 Palliative Care Consult Team mentor, a member of the VA Network 9 Health Systems Council, and co-chair of the Network 9 Geriatrics and Extended Care Committee.
• Christine Sinsky, M.D., B.S., is a General Internist at Medical Associates Clinic and Health Plans, in Dubuque, Iowa. She is a frequently invited lecturer on practice innovation, redesign, and the patient centered medical home (PCMH) and has been a presenter at the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative Stakeholder meeting. She serves on the physician advisory panel for the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) physician recognition programs and is a Director on the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Sinsky will introduce the topic by providing an overview of challenges and innovations facing patient empowerment and health IT systems. Building on this foundation, Dr. Krist will discuss findings from a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a personal health record (PHR). In his presentation he will explain how this PHR links patients to their health information in their physician’s electronic medical record (EMR) and provides personally tailored prevention recommendations to patients. Dr. Ritchie will discuss ongoing research in developing evidence-based tools to support patient-centered care. She will explain the findings from a randomized controlled trial investigating how to utilize IT systems to support patients with complex medical conditions as they transition from hospital to home-based care. To conclude our presentation, Dr. Sinsky will discuss her on-the-ground experience with empowering patients via IT systems in clinical settings and the key barriers and enablers to success.