A blog about the latest updates, stories and ideas from the OneRecord team.

The latest updates, stories and ideas from the OneRecord team.

The OneRecord Blog

Here are the many benefits that veterans and their families can enjoy with access to digital medical records.

Veterans, It’s Time to Take Control of Your Digital Health Data 

Are you a veteran? Or is a close friend or family member of yours a veteran? If so, we want to tell you about the many benefits that veterans and their families can enjoy with access to digital medical records. It's an exciting time where new technology makes it easy and secure to find your records, even as a veteran! So if you’re ready to operate more effectively in your healthcare journey, read on to see why taking control of your digital health data will empower an understanding of your health and remove the stress of health organization from your life.

Many veterans receive medical care from both VA healthcare facilities as well as civilian healthcare facilities over the course of a lifetime. But few ever get to see all their health data consolidated in one place at one time. Veterans, with your digital health records you have the ability to see all your data in one place. Gaining insight into up-to-date personal health data allows patients to know the trends and patterns in their health history. And having a clear picture of your health history will allow any veteran to effectively communicate with healthcare providers and insurance companies to receive the best care at the best cost.

Looking After a Spouse, Sibling, or Family Member

For many of us, the only thing more important than our own health is the health of our family members and loved ones. One of the best ways to improve care, for anyone looking after a veteran, is by keeping track of their digital health data for them. Free digital health apps like OneRecord make it easy for veteran family members to securely access their family’s medical data right from their smartphone, with permission from the veteran of course. We need to take care of each other and ensure our loved ones are healthy and getting the best care possible. 

P.S. you’ll also be saving time by not rummaging around sorting through paper records, too.

When it comes to medical history and medical records it can be difficult to know where to even begin. You have your health records from childhood, your records from clinics or circumstantial procedures, and your records from your regularly scheduled appointments.  

But how can you keep track of all these documents and information?  By keeping all your medical documents in a safe digital space you can skip the process of tracking down multiple healthcare providers and the long calls with insurance companies. Plus you won’t need to keep a filing cabinet in the middle of your home.  Having all your medical documents in the same place makes the idea of managing your healthcare a lot less daunting. With OneRecord you can consolidate all your medical documents and have them at your fingertips, whenever you need them.

Veterans, you’ve served our country and now OneRecord has the honor of serving you - by providing you all your health data in one place! Although we only named a few examples, there are many more ways that accessing your digital health data can help give you full autonomy over what matters most: your health. 

Download OneRecord for Free & Build Your OneRecord Today

Ready to operate more effectively in your healthcare journey and remove unwanted stress of healthcare organization from your life?

Consumers Can Now Find and Securely Store Vaccine Records on Their Mobile Devices

OneRecord Delivers Vaccine Wallet Pass

NEW YORK, April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OneRecord, a digital health company with apps on iOS, Android, and web – announces brand new features to find, store, and present vaccination records from iOS and web devices. This ability is taken one step further by giving users with iPhones the ability to easily access their vaccine records with their Apple Wallet.

In collaboration with Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) as both an individual member and a member of the CARIN Alliance, OneRecord is committed to empowering consumers with trustworthy and verifiable copies of their vaccination records in digital or paper form. OneRecord will be one of the early applications for general availability using the SMART Health Cards Framework Implementation Guide based on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Verifiable Credential and Health Level 7 (HL7) FHIR standards.

OneRecord's wallet pass works by enabling the user to connect their existing health portals to their OneRecord app and fetching data via secure FHIR APIs. Unlike a tethered patient portal that relies on a single health system, OneRecord is an untethered application that can find and pull digital health records from any source a user provides. By introducing the vaccination record and immunization lookups, OneRecord will help users navigate the final phases of the COVID-19 pandemic as the world transitions back to a new normal. 

Furthermore, the vaccine wallet pass developed by OneRecord will support vaccination and immunization records of all types (ex. Hep. A, Hep. B, Cholera, etc.) expanding its use case outside of just COVID-19. Vaccines are a requirement for traveling internationally, working within certain job sites, and for students attending public schools and universities. With vaccination records at the user's fingertips, the process of providing proof of vaccination and entering those settings will be more seamless than ever. No patient portal? No problem. Users can also use OneRecord's medical files management system to upload a photo of their vaccination record to the application for secure digital safe-keeping. 

The integration between OneRecord's vaccine wallet pass and the Apple Wallet is indeed novel. Similar to digital airline boarding passes, users can store and pull up their vaccination records with the Apple Wallet itself. "We're thinking big about consumer features. A wallet record is the new normal, it's secure, shareable, and it won't fall out of your pocket," says CEO and Co-Founder of OneRecord, Jennifer Bluementhal. "It's about time healthcare technology seamlessly adds value to consumers in an everyday way."  

OneRecord isn't stopping here and is already working on bringing the same vaccination and wallet pass features to Android devices and all web platforms. Along with that, OneRecord is working on an end-to-end experience where a digital QR code can be scanned by a receiving organization for additional verification through State Immunization Registries. Healthcare has been catalyzed into the forefront of our everyday life and OneRecord is taking on the challenge of providing the right solutions to keep our world running smoothly. Get back to a new normal, backed by OneRecord.

OneRecord is available on the VA.gov App Store, the Apple App Store (supporting iPhones running iOS 12.4+), and Google Play (for devices running Android 9+). Or, access your full health history on OneRecord.com with the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari.

OneRecord Delivers Vaccine Wallet Pass Nationwide

Finding and Securely Storing Your Vaccine Records on Your Mobile Devices is Easier Than Ever

Here are some helpful steps to obtain proof of your vaccination history because, ultimately, the best policy when it comes to vaccination cards is to be proactive about your storage and handling of them.

Lost Your Vaccination Card? Here’s What To Do

Already lost your vaccination card? Don’t panic. There are a number of steps you can take in order to restore proof of your vaccination.  Here are some helpful steps to obtain proof of your vaccination history. 

COVID-19 vaccination sites are required to report data within 72 hours in their state’s immunization system so although you may not have physical proof, there are databases that can be accessed in order to confirm your vaccination status. 

The first step that the CDC recommends is to contact your vaccination provider, which means the location where you received your shot. When provided with a valid form of ID, the vaccination providers should be able to look you up in their system and promptly provide you a new vaccination card with the same exact information as before. 

If you are unable to contact your vaccination provider, you can then reach out to your state health department’s immunization information system (IIS) for assistance. The CDC itself does not store vaccination record information. Rather, each state has a website, phone number, or email address that you can access in order to find out how to gain personal vaccination records in your specific state.

For those of you who have not lost your vaccination card, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still suggests taking a photo of both the front and back of your card in the event that you lose it. Be sure to store these photos in a secure digital app, like OneRecord, as vaccination cards display sensitive personal information that could be used by scammers to perform identity theft or create phony vaccination cards.

Although there are means of obtaining new physical cards if they get lost or damaged, you don’t want to be left scrambling the night before a flight or be denied entry to an event because you do not have proof of your legitimate immunization. The easiest thing for you is to keep a digital record at your fingertips. Plus it's more secure to carry than your paper record. Download OneRecord and you’ll be able to keep your COVID-19 immunization data securely on your phone ready anytime you may need them. Ultimately, the best policy when it comes to vaccination cards is to be proactive about your storage and handling of them.

Keep Your Vaccination Records On Your Phone Here

Already lost your vaccination card? Don’t panic. There are a number of steps you can take in order to restore proof of your vaccination.

OneRecord is now publicly available onathenahealth® Marketplace to support provider organizations using athenaClinicals in meeting 21st Century Cures Act's Information Blocking and Patient Access requirements.

OneRecord Joins athenahealth's Marketplace Program to Empower Consumers with Their Medical Records

Chief Barketing Officer

NEW YORK, April 14, 2021-- OneRecord, a cross-device health platform with apps on iOS, Android, and web – is now publicly available on athenahealth® Marketplace to support provider organizations using athenaClinicals in meeting 21st Century Cures Act's Information Blocking and Patient Access requirements. As part of the athenahealth® Marketplace (marketplace.athenahealth.com), OneRecord gains national access and visibility to athenahealth's growing network of 160,000+ healthcare providers. 

This is a well awaited addition to OneRecord's long list of connected electronic health records systems (EHRs) in both inpatient and ambulatory markets.OneRecord is currently live with Epic, Cerner, Allscripts, Meditech, NextGen, Medhost, CPSI, eCW, Medhost, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Every new EHR vendor added to the OneRecord Network plays an integral role in fulfilling the vision for all citizens to be able to access their medical records - right from their fingertips. 

OneRecord's CEO and Co-Founder Jennifer Blumenthal remarks that "our team has been building a best in class app that consumers love to use and it shows. It's an honor to be represented on athenahealth® Marketplace and to be the second app in our category, Personal Health Records, chosen alongside Apple's Health App to empower consumers with their medical records from athena providers."

Find OneRecord on the athenahealth Marketplace here.

Wondering what HIPAA means and what it does?  We’re here to break down the four major protections that HIPAA is designed to provide for you - in words we can all understand.

What is HIPAA? Here's a simplified summary for you.

Unless you work in close proximity to the healthcare industry you may have only heard about HIPAA in hospital TV shows or at your annual doctor’s visit. HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is a law in the United States designed to protect patients and their health information as our healthcare systems continue to modernize. There are four major protections that HIPAA is designed to provide and we’re here to quickly break them down for you.

As its Latin root, port, implies, the portability of insurance refers to carrying insurance from one place to another, or from one person to another. Basically what this means is that health insurance is set up in a way so that if there is a change in your employment, home address, family status, or health status it will have the least possible negative impact on your insurance coverage as it transfers. This part of the law makes it easier for people who have group insurance coverage to remain covered when they change jobs or add family members to the coverage. More people are able to "carry" the coverage in the case of marriage, childbirth, adoption, or other family status changes.

Protection and Privacy of Healthcare Information

If you have heard about HIPAA protections before, you most likely heard it as it relates to privacy. This protection is designed to keep your private health information, well, private. This ensures that your healthcare providers are not disclosing your health information without your knowledge or consent. This protection is commonly referred to as the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Standardization and Efficiency in Healthcare Data

As the world modernizes, the medical world does too. HIPAA was created primarily to adjust to the quick-changing landscape of how records are kept, shared, and used. As with most records and important documents, we have seen a shift from physical, hard copies to records being stored securely online. The HIPAA related legislation gives guidance to the proper storage and sharing of health information. If you want a safe and easy way to organize, manage, and share your medical records, download OneRecord to access all your medical records - ready whenever you may need them. 

This protection establishes a system or process for how violations of HIPAA are dealt with and prevented. Systems are set up within HIPAA as a means of keeping the ecosystem of the healthcare world in good working order to keep consumers like you protected.

HIPAA is designed to protect you, your health information, and your health insurance coverage. When it comes to these factors it’s important to know what protections you have in order to have confidence navigating the healthcare system. The more you know about how the healthcare system works, the more it can work for you.  Check out our other blogs for more helpful tips and tricks.

So what is HIPAA? Here's a simplified summary for you.

Wondering what HIPAA means and what it does?  We’re here to quickly break down the four major protections that HIPAA is designed to provide for you - in words we can all understand.

Immunization records will be playing a larger role in our lives than ever before. Here is a selection of activities and places where your COVID-19 vaccination records may be used in the coming months and years.

Your COVID-19 Vaccination Records Will Be Beneficial To Have On Hand In 2021 - Here's Why

Medicine has been at the forefront of public discussion throughout this past year and has influenced the way our society operates in extreme ways. Though it feels we are coming to a close with the pandemic, there are anticipated societal changes still to come moving forward. As we move into 2021 and restrictions slowly get lifted and life begins to resemble what it once was, we should expect some new practices and policies as we re-engage with and re-examine travel, sporting events, education, office culture, concerts, etc. 

Based on expert's outlooks going into the spring and summer of 2021, it is a likely conclusion that immunization records will be playing a larger role in our lives than ever before. We have compiled a selection of activities and places where immunization records may be used in the coming years.

We have already seen a major shift in the way the travel industry is operating due to this pandemic. Between airlines limiting the number of seats available and some states instating travel bans, traveling has never been so involved. As the vaccine rollout continues, we can expect the travel industry to change in time along with it. By having immunization records on hand you will most likely be setting yourself up to successfully navigate whatever travel changes or rules you may come up against as you make your way to your final destination.  This could include special seating areas for those that are vaccinated, providing a vaccine record to board an international flight (instead of a negative COVID-19 test), or even flight deals for vaccinated travelers. 

Last March many Americans transitioned from bustling office life into a solo, work-from-home life. With working from home not being permanently plausible for many individuals and businesses, we should expect a return to the office spaces in some capacity in 2021. Shared office spaces have come into popularity throughout the past few years and a few of these spaces currently require patrons to have their temperature taken before even entering the space. Office spaces are likely to change once again with increased immunizations throughout the country and immunization records could be the key to the office doors. Your immunization records on hand will help to bypass some of these forecasted restrictions and considerations.

The most recent Super Bowl, Super Bowl LV, featured 7,500 vaccinated healthcare workers in the stands in Tampa, Florida. These spectators are a welcome change from the cardboard cutouts and empty bleachers that we have become accustomed to at sporting events. With the Super Bowl as a precedent, we can imagine that vaccination status will play a role moving forward with these sorts of leisure and entertainment activities.  From buying tickets online to entering the stadium, an immunization record will likely ensure entry as the world transitions back to normal.

Although we do not know exactly how the world will begin to rebuild to a new normal, we can anticipate immunization records playing a larger role than they ever did before. To ensure you are best equipped to take on this new normal, download OneRecord and you’ll have your Covid-19 immunization data securely on your phone ready anytime you may need them.  A digital record is much easier, and much more secure, to carry than your paper record and you can trust that if you have your phone, you have your records.  Get OneRecord today!

Your COVID-19 Vaccination Records Will Be Beneficial in 2021 - Here's Why

Your Immunization Records May Play A Crucial Role As You Navigate 2021

A summary of COVID-19 Vaccines as of late February 2021

The Latest On The COVID-19 Vaccines - February 2021

OneRecord

With Covid-19 case rates dropping nationwide, we are nearing a glimpse of a post-Covid future. Still, real hope for a new, new normal is carried by vaccines-- effective, timely, and widespread vaccinations. After a series of unprecedented scientific breakthroughs, five different vaccines have been approved, each with its own mechanism of action, range of efficacy, along with logistical, supply, and cost challenges. Here we survey the leading vaccines approved for distribution. 

The Pfizer vaccine, co-developed with the German firm, BioNTech, is a two-shot regimen given three weeks apart. This vaccine takes advantage of mRNA to transport genetic instructions for the Covid-19 spike protein inside human cells. Once the instructions are read by the ribosomes, the cell begins producing copies of the spike protein. These cells are then recognized as intruders and attacked by Helper T cells and B cells.  The immune system, now familiar with the spike protein, is prepared to defend against Covid-19 in the wild. 

 With an efficacy of 95% in preventing infection, Pfizer, along with Moderna, leads the pack. But from a logistical and cost perspective, there are significant challenges. Pfizer’s vaccine requires a “cold chain” of storage that maintains the vials at -94 degrees Fahrenheit. Refrigeration of this grade is not widely available--not at pharmacies or Doctors’ offices--so distribution will likely be slowed. Its cost too, which is twice that of Johnson & Johnson’s, likely places this vaccine out of reach for all but the wealthiest nations. The fact that two doses are required can also be seen as a limitation. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in contrast, requires a single dose and can be stored in standard refrigerators. 

Developed by a Massachusetts biotechnology firm in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Moderna’s vaccine also uses mRNA to educate the immune system. A two-dose regimen provides 94% efficacy in preventing Covid infections, and 99% efficacy in preventing severe infections. An important advantage of Moderna’s vaccine is that it can be stored in ordinary refrigerators, making distribution logistics much simpler. But Moderna’s vaccine requires a dose of 100 micrograms (three times that of Pfizer’s) which presents its own supply challenge. Studies are now underway to see if a lower dose would be as effective.

Johnson & Johnson took a different approach than Moderna or Pfizer. This vaccine does not use mRNA, but rather makes use of a harmless adenovirus which normally causes the common cold. Engineering this virus to carry instructions to make the Covid-19 spike protein enables delivery of the protein’s genetic code to a human cell, where it is then recognized as an intruder and destroyed. This same approach has previously been approved to combat Ebola. 

This vaccine is a single-shot regimen with 85% effectiveness against severe Covid infections. In preventing mild to moderate cases, the demonstrated efficacy is 66 percent. Given that this vaccine can be stored in standard refrigeration for months, and that its cost is ⅓ that of Pfizer’s, this may prove the vaccine of choice where logistics and cost are key considerations. 

A partnership between Oxford University and Swiss biotechnology firm, AstraZeneca, has produced a vaccine with 82.4% efficacy in preventing infection. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, the Oxford team decided to use double-stranded DNA rather than mRNA to transport spike protein genes. Due to DNA’s robust protein coating which makes it much sturdier than mRNA, this vaccine needn’t be frozen and has a long shelf-life in ordinary refrigeration. 

Using a well-studied and previously approved technique pioneered by Johnson & Johnson in its Ebola vaccine, the Oxford team uses a modified chimpanzee adenovirus to transport spike protein building instructions into human cells, thus provoking an immune response. The modified adenovirus is safe to use in this scenario as it can enter cells, but cannot replicate inside them.

While its safety and efficacy for those over 65 and for children is still to be determined, for the broad middle demographics, this vaccine’s low cost (3-4$/dose) and logistical simplicity makes it an appealing option for many nations.

A Maryland-based firm utilized a well-known technique for modifying a gene and then allowing it to infect a host cell in order to harvest modified but inert infectious agents. Here, a modified version of the Covid spike protein was allowed to infect a moth cell which then produced altered spike proteins. They then harvested those spike proteins and assembled them into nanoparticles, which mimic the structure and function of real-world spike proteins, but have no power to infect or cause illness. 

These nanoparticles then in circulation, the immune system is encouraged by a chemical attractant to see and destroy the nanoparticles. But while the particles are not infectious, the immune system has learned to identify and destroy the Covid-19 spike protein. 

Like the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the Novavax vaccine does not need to be frozen and has a 3-month shelf life under ordinary refrigeration. With an efficacy rate of 89% and simple logistics, Novovax could become a critical asset in the fight against Covid. 

Scientists think the Moderna and BioNTech vaccines will still work against two variants of concern that were first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, but emerging evidence — including from a different experimental vaccine trial — suggests that the protection might be considerably less complete.

Novavax — which, by the way, is in the midst of a large late-stage trial in North America — proved effective at stopping symptomatic infections in global hot spots where concerning variants are dominant, the company announced Thursday. However, warning signs lurked amid those findings: The protective effect of the vaccine was substantially muted in South Africa, where a worrisome virus variant is in wide circulation.

Dr. Fauci said that the more crucial measure was the ability to prevent severe disease, which translates to keeping people out of the hospital and preventing deaths. And that result, for Johnson & Johnson, was 85 percent in all of the countries where it was tested, including South Africa, where a rapidly spreading variant of the virus had shown some ability to elude vaccines.

Here's The Latest On The COVID-19 Vaccines 

Your round-up on the latest COVID-19 Immunization News