[Med-privacy] EMRs

[Peter Marshall]

http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/item.cfm?ID=3D1180

    The Public View on Electronic Health Records

    Americans want personal health records

    03 May 2005

    The majority of Americans want to be able to access an online=20
personal
    health record (PHR), providing them with details of their medical
    record.

    According to a survey conducted by the US health IT research body
    Connecting for Health, 61% of Amercans questioned agreed with the
    statement: "It's my health information. I should have access to it
    anywhere, anytime."

    The telephone survey also found strong support for people wanting to
    be able to check their medical record for mistakes. Some 54% of =
those
    surveyed agreed with the statement: "Anybody can make a mistake I'd
    like to double-check what's in my medical records".

    In addition, a majority of respondents also said they'd like to get=20=

an
    automatic copy of their doctor's notes and records after each visit.
    Details of the 2004 survey are carried in a report on PHRs in the
    current issue of American Medical News.

    The concept of a life-long electronic personal health record,
    controlled by the individual citizen, as opposed to a medical record
    held by a hospital or family doctor, is central to US plans to build=20=

a
    national health information network within 10 years.

    Under the US's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
    legislation, physicians and hospitals must give full and unhindered
    access to medical records on request.

    Key to the concept of a PHR is providing patients with the tools to
    assemble medical and treatment data from every doctor, or health =
care
    provider they have ever visited. By having greater control over =
their
    record it is hoped they will take greater control over their care =
and
    become more empowered.

    Further benefits are anticipated from patients being able to spot =
and
    correct inaccuracies in their medical records. Doctors and other
    health professionals will also, with the permission of patients, =
gain
    access to a more complete health record than they would otherwise=20
see.

    Although the concept of a PHR is still evolving the Connecting for
    Health task force in 2003 set out a working definition that =
described
    a PHR as an Internet-based set of tools that allow patients to =
access
    and co-ordinate their lifelong health information and make=20
appropriate
    parts of it available to those who need it.

    A report in the current issue of American Medical News highlights a
    number of different approaches being taken in developing PHRs. These
    include commercial services such as that offered by PassportMD, =
which
    offers a medical records storage service to patients and family
    physicians.

    Other early adopters of PHRs identified include the Palo Alto =
Medical
    Foundation, a 600-doctor healthcare provider network that since 2002
    has offered patients access to their information through a secure
    healthcare portal.

    More ambitious are the plans of Kaiser Permanente, which plans "to
    make parts of its patient's information available to members through=20=

a
    secure website built into its Electronic Medical Record," says the=20=

AMN
    report. Information to be provided will include "lab results, =
medical
    problems and medications, and review instructions from physicians=20
from
    physicians and care teams".

    Citizen-accessible personal electronic care records are also meant =
to
    form a key feature of England's NHS National Programme for IT. With
    NHS Direct Online's MyHealthSpace, a kind of personal health blog,
    providing a precursor to a citizen-accessed view of their integrated
    care record.

    =A9 2005 E-HEALTH-MEDIA LTD.=