Summary of SBM Press Event

View the recording of the full press event on the Behavioral Informatics for Health website.

In late April thought leaders and researchers in behavioral medicine and informatics gathered at the National Press Club, focused on consumer health IT. The event, Behavioral Informatics for Health was sponsored by the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM), American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM), Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). The thrust was a spotlight on two journals with entire issues devoted to consumer and behavioral informatics: the inaugural issue of Translational Behavioral Medicine and Cyberinfrastructure for Consumer Health, the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM).

Editors Bonnie Spring (TBM) and Bill Silberg (AJPM) launched the session by talking about creating the future using patient-centered computerized tools to deliver participatory medicine. An amazing line-up of speakers and pioneers presented, including Karen Emmons, SBM president. She stressed the need for patient-entered data in EHRs to enusre patient-centered information is front and center. M. Chris Gibbons, book author, researcher and Assoiate Director of the Urban Institute at John Hopkins, summarized the growing evidence base showing positive impact of consumer health IT interventions. Mike Painter, RWJF Quality Team, advocated for solutions that give people more information to help them make decisions. He cautioned the crowd not to get too mired in the evidence so as not to slow them down.

Read the entry "Personal health records and consumer health IT: Are we going to lead, or follow?" on the Shared Health Data blog for more details about the press event.