Flip the Clinic is proud to announce it has been chosen as one of the organizations featured at the White House Champions of Change for Precision Medicine event. Flip the Clinic’s program director Whitney Bowman-Zatzkin will share the news of a transformational idea that has been picked up by over a dozen health systems, organizations, and clinics across the country. Right now, the solution—what Flip the Clinic calls “Flip 55”—is set to reach 20 million patients and 160 thousand clinicians. And interest is only growing.

Flip 55 is an elegant yet practical solution that helps health systems encourage patients to access their electronic medical records. It also directly supports patients as they request their electronic health data from clinics, hospitals, and labs. Starting today, Flip the Clinic is offering a toolkit to accompany Flip 55 aimed at helping health systems get the word out to patients and helping patients navigate their electronic health record requests. Flip the Clinic will also offer targeted support to electronic health record providers, hospitals, clinics, and patients.
The idea for Flip 55 came about this Spring, after a recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report cited that an impressive ninety-two percent of hospitals have a system in place to provide patients with timely access to an electronic copy of their health record. Yet, the number of patients requesting a digital copy of their health record in a year was one or none. The survey hints at a striking disconnect between what’s technically available and a patient’s understanding of what they’re able to access. Just 38 percent of patients with an electronic health record-enabled provider reported being offered a copy by a clinician or insurer.

Because of Flip the Clinic’s focus on open experimentation and its view that patients and clinicians are equal participants in making the health care experience better, Bowman-Zatzkin realized that Flip the Clinic was uniquely suited to help. “For both patients and health systems, pushing for patients to access and use electronic medical records is a massive cultural shift,” explains Bowman-Zatzkin. “At a very basic level, it’s not unlike our cultural shift around online banking. At first, both banks and customers were skeptical, but eventually we changed to a more proactive way of managing our money. A patient’s ability to view, share, and use their electronic health records or lab results is a really great thing. We’re just starting to understand the opportunities for patients to connect their data in meaningful ways that match their health goals.”

Flip 55 has drawn monumental interest in an extremely short amount of time. Twenty million patients are currently within reach of its message. Thanks to the White House’s support for Flip the Clinic, Flip 55 is on track to benefit even more patients. “The President’s Precision Medicine Initiative starts with connecting more patients to their digital health records through support and encouragement from clinicians across the United States,” says Bowman-Zatzkin. “This is just the first step.”

Flip the Clinic is thrilled that the following organizations have committed to promoting awareness of a patient’s ability to receive their electronic health data by piloting Flip 55: 504HealthNet in New Orleans, Allergy & Asthma Care Centers in Virginia, Almost Family in Kentucky, The Austin Diagnostic Clinic in Texas, Children’s Integrated Center for Success in Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., LIVESTRONG Foundation, National Association for Trusted Exchange, text4baby, Trinity Health in Michigan, MU Health Care in Missouri, UNC Health Care in North Carolina, and Epic.

Join Flip the Clinic at the White House Champions of Change for Precision Medicine by watching the live event at whitehouse.gov/live. You can encourage easy and regular access to digital health records by joining the Flip 55 team. Pilot this Flip in your community or practice promoting patient access to electronic health records. Make the commitment here: fliptheclinic.org/flips/accessourdata.

For more information on Flip the Clinic’s participation in the White House Champions of Change for Precision Medicine event, please call Leslie Waghorn at 703-346-5314 or email press@fliptheclinic.org.