Aetna to offer wealth of health data online

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Aetna Inc. is offering its members a new online hunt tool that links to easy-to-understand articles, local docs who specialise in their needs, as well as cost information based on their personal wellness record and benefits.

The service is a consequence of a partnership with Healthline Networks, a San Francisco health-technology company that develops software system to voyage wellness searches.

"Consumers are now shifting from a 'doctor is God' outlook to one of 'my physician is a possible ally ... but I necessitate to take control,' " said Dean Stephens, Healthline's president and main operating officer. "The grounds states a more than informed consumer is a healthier consumer. A healthier consumer costs less."

Today's proclamation is portion of an emerging tendency among Internet companies offering consumers ways to acquire wellness information and shop their medical wellness records online. Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Revolution Health, created by AOL co-founder Steve Case, have got all introduced assorted services in recent calendar months to assist patients form their medical information online.

This online pushing is also related to a bigger attempt promoted by the federal authorities to acquire docs and infirmaries to abandon their paper medical data files in favour of electronic records-keeping systems. Health suppliers have got been slow to do such as changes, in portion owed to costs and defects in the technology.

Unlike most other personal wellness records, Aetna's service will not necessitate patients to fill up in all their wellness inside information because much of that information can be culled from the insurer's claims history. The hunt engine - called Aetna SmartSource - ours information on Aetna's land site to show members with relevant consequences based on the footing they searched, personal profile, benefit program and other information.

"The bearer already have your wellness data, so there's not an issue of some 3rd political party excavation for information they might utilize against you," said Greg Sterling, analyst with Sterling Market Intelligence in San Francisco.

While privateness is always a concern when putting sensitive wellness information online, Aetna, as a wellness insurer, is required to follow with federal wellness privateness laws that make not use to companies such as as Microsoft and Google, Sterling said.

Aetna functionaries said they would not sell or share data, mark advertisements at consumers based on their hunt history or usage any information from medical hunts against a member.

"We have got claims information on people from twenty-four hours one. That information is between Aetna and the insured and is not used at all," said Toilet Bahl, caput of online merchandise designing for Aetna. "We've got this information, and we believe we could make a better occupation in presenting our resources to our members when they necessitate them."

Under Healthline and Aetna's agreement, the insurance company licences Healthline's software, which translates medical linguistic communication into more than easily understood footing and presents a custom-made search. Footing of the trade were not disclosed.

The new service is already being tested by the insurer's 30,000 employees and will be expanded to as many as 2 million clients by the end of this twelvemonth as portion of a airplane pilot program. Ultimately, the company said, it will be available to its 16.8 million members nationwide.

E-mail Queen Victoria Colliver at .