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Mayo opens private medical-data website
The clinic's free site offers medical advice and reminders. The more information you enter, the more you get.
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Mayo Clinic is the latest to offer a free, secure, online website for anyone -- whether a patient or not -- to store and organize medical information.
Such sites, also offered by Google Health and Revolution Health (started by former AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case) are designed to replace the proverbial shoebox of medical documents kept at home.
Unlike some of its competitors, Mayo Clinic Health Manager will offer more than a place to organize medical data. It will also push out customized information, such as reminders for checkups, from one of the most respected brands in health care.
"In every family, there seems to be one person who keeps track of health info and figures out what to do," said Dr. Sidna Tulledge-Scheitel, medical director for Mayo Clinic Global Products and Services Division.
On Mayo's site, she said, "The more you enter, the more personalized the health care reminders and guidance there will be for each family member."
Mayo Clinic is using Microsoft's HealthVault software for the site. Microsoft's relationship with Mayo is not monogamous; the Cleveland Clinic late last year started a pilot program with HealthVault.
Marketing edge?
In recent years, hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices have been busy installing electronic medical record systems to replace paper files. Mayo Clinic Health Manager will allow consumers to do the same with their own records, although clinic and personal records will remain separate.
For now, Mayo Clinic Health Manager will offer advice and reminders for asthma, pregnancy and immunizations from birth to end of life. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes care advice will be added later this year.
Mayo could have an edge over its rivals if consumers see the new site as not just a holder of information but a way to get health advice from renowned medical leaders, said Chris Bevolo, owner of Interval, a Minneapolis health care marketing firm.
"Wal-Mart couldn't do that, and I can't imagine Google doing that," Bevolo said.
Ultimately, it could build the kind of loyalty that would prompt people who don't now go to Mayo to consider it for specialty care.
"That's a great long-term branding strategy," he said.
Mayo patients who want to upload their medical records from their physicians' offices to Mayo Clinic Health Manager will have to wait until later this year before it can be done electronically. The website is limited to medical data. Users will not be able to track medical spending on it.
Scheitel said Mayo also plans to offer the personal health record to corporate clients that buy Mayo's wellness programs.
Consumers can sign up for Mayo Clinic Health Manager on www.mayoclinic.com.
Chen May Yee • 612-673-7434
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