It’s no easy task to select a topic from the FNCE to write about, so I will take one at a time!  One of the best sessions, in my opinion, took place at the earliest slot Sunday morning.  Peggy Turner, Vice Chair of the Nutrition Informatics Committee moderated a panel entitled: Smart Phones and Smart Patients: the New Rules of Engagement.  As you might expect, there was a technology thread running throughout the talk.  What happened behind the scenes only highlights the determinedness of those in the consumer health IT arena.  The short version is that Sunnie Southern, a “think-outside-the-box” dietitian, who was to present in person, got sidelined on a late-breaking family obligation to….Algeria, Africa.  

Instead of changing the speaker lineup, we just modified the method.  Sunnie provided her part via videos woven throughout the presentation!  Erin Poetter from the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC), managed the process masterfully and even inserted the recent ONC Consumer Health IT for You-Giving You Access to Your Medical Records Animation which is available in a one-minute or three-minute version; it presents a simple suggestion for all Americans and an indication of where healthcare is going:  putting patients in charge of accessing and managing their own health information.  So…the first question hits close to home: do you have access to your own health information?