Accessing and understanding your health information can make you more confident about the care you receive and research suggests can help improve outcomes. However, every person has experienced the frustration of trying to track down your records, only to get caught in an endless loop of portals and passwords. Grain Fertility is changing the way you access and understand your fertility information.
by Joe Cody, Founder
When I started to think about Grain Fertility and what it could do to help patients who are undergoing fertility treatment, I sought to not only build a tool that my wife and I wish we had when we were undergoing IVF, but I wanted to build something that was based on a scientific understanding of how patients view their health information and how I could help reduce the stresses associated with fertility treatment, improve the doctor patient relationship, and empower patients to serve as better advocates for themselves.
Finding Your Health Information Is Not Easy Today
89% of Americans have collected their personal health information or records at some point in time. Among them, about 1 in 4 (24%) – or 59 million* – didn’t find the process easy. We all know the feeling. You get an email from your doctor saying there is a test result or new message in your inbox. You then have to click to a new window, sign into a patient portal with a different password, and then navigate to find yet another inbox. You then see a message with a bunch of numbers, no context, and then a directive to call your nurse or doctor if you have any questions. No wonder nearly 2 in 3 (62%) Americans are not extremely confident in their understanding of the health information they discuss with their doctor.
Grain Fertility Amplifies the Patient Doctor Relationship By Promoting Shared Decision Making
Grain Fertility is changing the patient doctor relationship for the better by providing patients with an easy way to access, review, and learn from their health information. Using state of the art electronic health information exchange processes and top of the line security protocols, Grain Fertility will allow patients to download, view, use, and share their health information from a single log in. Not only will users find the process for finding their health information or records easy, they will find it can help them increase confidence in the care they are receiving and potentially help improve their outcomes.
The process of empowering patients to be more informed advocates for themselves and talking through decisions with their doctors is called Shared Decision Making. “Studies show consistent evidence that the practice of (shared decision making) is associated with increased patient satisfaction with treatment outcomes and perception of personal control, reduced decisional conflict, greater trust in providers, and better self-management and adherence to treatment for complex chronic conditions.” The process of reviewing and understanding your medical information can help you and your doctor discuss what fertility treatment protocols work best for you, taking into account your personal preferences, finances, and your complete medical and family history.
Grain Fertility is not designed to supplant your relationship with your doctors, but to enhance it. Studies have shown that patients that access their health information have a perceived enhanced communication with their doctors and health team, better appointment recall, and more prepared for upcoming appointments. Patients overwhelmingly believe that having easy, secure access to their health information will help them.
Grain Fertility’s mission is to empower patients by giving them access to their health information and providing them with the tools to take control of their fertility journey. If you have any questions about accessing your health information, how you can become a better advocate for yourself or loved ones, and how Grain can help empower your fertility journey, reach out to me at joe@grainfertility.com. I would love to personally help you in any way possible.
You can also join us by signing up to serve as a beta user for Grain when it launches by visiting our home page at https://www.grainfertility.com/ and help us build the first open notes fertility focused health information platform.
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