So what does the phrase “Say, ah” have to do with health literacy? Well, according to the folks at non-profit Say Ah!, it’s related to “Open your mouth and say ‘Ah’” and “Ah, I understand now.”

I love the phrase, all big and bold on their home page: “Medicine is getting better every day, but dealing with it is getting harder.” How true!

Say Ah! is all about helping people understand health and healthcare issues. In other words, the Say Ah! folks seek to improve health literacy because they know that health literacy is “a stronger predictor of a person’s health than age, income, employment status, education level, and race.” (more…)

Knocking down barriers between healthcare providers and consumers is generally a good idea, but is there such a thing as too much patient education? Apparently so, at least in some circles.

In the Health News section of UPI.com, a recent story notes just such a situation exists when it comes to children with cancer. More specifically, it exists for parents and adult caregivers of kids with cancer. As noted in the article, “Parents of kids with cancer distrust Web“, researchers at the University of (more…)

The United States Department of Health and Human Services released The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy in 2010. It’s goal? To encourage the healthcare industry to make health information and services easier to understand and use.

“Health literacy is needed to make health reform a reality,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Without health information that makes sense to them, people can’t access cost effective, safe, and high quality health services. But, HHS can’t do it alone,” she added. “We need payers and providers of health care services to communicate clearly and make the necessary changes to improve their communication with consumers, patients, and beneficiaries.” (more…)

Literacy: “An individual’s ability to read, write and speak…, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society, to achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential.”
- National Literacy Act of 1991

Health Literacy: “The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health (more…)

Last Friday, January 27th, the insurance company WellPoint released a statement saying that they were going to “revamp primary care pay” as noted in the Miami Herald. They said they were planning on reimbursing primary care doctors better for services that typically aren’t covered very well, such as preparing care plans, counseling people about ways to stay healthy, and spending time with people to help them achieve and maintain better health outcomes. (more…)

Over on granddaddy HIT blog site, HIStalk, you’ll see Part One of the annual query of HIT C-suiters and other head honcho types, “What was the biggest HIT-related news or event in 2011 and why?” Some pretty expectable answers about ICD-10, ACOs, the Stage 2 Meaningful Use delay, mergers/acquisitions, and mobile health – often with some also expectable vendor-centric skew on the take – dominate these execs’ considered replies.

I can’t really say that I disagree much with any of these folks’ points of view, but I’ve been watching the land of HIT from a slightly different perspective of late and I think there may be an even more powerful portent percolating in the periphery of our health tech world. It’s sneaking up on us and it has the potential to change virtually anything and everything (more…)