Five Questions With: Nancy Lush

NANCY LUSH is president of the Lush Group, which provides software application development and related consulting services. / COURTESY LUSH GROUP
NANCY LUSH is president of the Lush Group, which provides software application development and related consulting services. / COURTESY LUSH GROUP

Nancy Lush, president of the Lush Group in Jamestown, talks about the company and its involvement in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Move Health Data Forward Challenge. Its HealthyMePHR solution received a $5,000 award during the first phase of the challenge. Winners of the second phase will be announced in February and will win $20,000. During the third phase, winners will receive $50,000.

PBN: How long has Lush been in business and how many employees does it have? Tell me about the services you provide.
LUSH:
The Lush Group has been in business for over 28 years. We provide software application development and related consulting services. We specialize in health care solutions, particularly using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (also known as FHIR, a way to describe data formats) to create clinical data access solutions.

PBN: Why did you want to participate in the Move Health Data Forward Challenge?
LUSH:
The challenge is addressing something that’s near and dear to me: health data exchange is just too complicated right now. For years, both patients and doctors have been frustrated by difficulty in exchanging clinical data, and it has impacted patient care.

PBN: Tell me about the HealthyMePHR system that you pitched for the challenge. Was it something that has been in the works for a while, or was it created specifically for the challenge?
LUSH:
Our HealthyMePHR solution allows the patient to control the flow of their clinical data securely. The challenge just happened to be a nice fit with an idea that had been percolating. By utilizing the new HL7 FHIR standard, UMA and related HEART specified technologies, HealthyMePHR will be at the forefront of a new class of solutions dedicated to reducing administrative overhead, making clinician visits more productive, and improving patient engagement and well-being.

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PBN: How do you think it will help people manage their health information?
LUSH:
The first version of HealthyMePHR will help patients in two ways:

  • They will be able to easily share their clinical data with other providers and advocates, in a secure and private way.
  • It will enable them to view a copy of their own medical data for easy reference.

In subsequent versions, patients will be empowered to interact with their own data and use applications that focus on their unique medical history to improve their health care.

PBN: What are the next steps involving the project now that Lush’s HealthyMePHR system has been picked to move on to the next phase of the challenge?
LUSH:
The initial prize was for the concept and business plan. We are now building our prototype, which includes a fair amount of R&D. We will continue to enhance our plan and test our solution.

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