Big firms expand employee health record plans

Two Silicon valley firms have joined the founding fathers of a huge new effort to build personal health records for employees, aimed at reducing healthcare costs through improved care process efficiencies. The group, which now includes Intel, Applied Materials, Wal-Mart, BP America and Pitney-Bowes, will shortly announce that they are investing in a non-profit called the Omnimedix Institute, tasked with developing, managing and storing the portable personal health records (PHRs). The companies, collectively, will end up offering the PHRs to about 2.5 million employees. The idea, however, is that the neither employers nor insurers get access to employee medical records without the employee's consent, which is why the big firms are using Portland, OR-based Omnimedix as an intermediary. Once the effort launches next year, member companies hope that other large employers will come on board.

For more information on the firms' PHR efforts:
- read this San Jose Mercury News article

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