[Med-privacy] Privacy framework for personal health records developed

[peter marshall]

Privacy framework for personal health records developed
Major PHR vendors sign on to the AMA-supported standards.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. July 14, 2008.

Dossia, Microsoft, Intuit, Google and WebMD have joined forces with 
others in the health care sector to endorse a set of practices for both 
the technology and the use of personal health records.

A PHR framework was developed by the Markle Foundation-operated 
Connecting for Health, a public-private collaboration that included 
several groups, including the American Medical Association. The 
announcement on June 25 came the same day Markle released a new survey 
that looked at consumer attitudes toward PHRs.

The framework was developed over the course of 18 months and includes 
14 specific technology and policy approaches for vendors and for 
consumers. Markle said the framework will help vendors create systems 
that easily can exchange and protect patient data, while also providing 
consumers with guidelines on how to choose and maintain a PHR system.

The Markle survey found that 79% of the public believes that PHRs would 
provide major benefits to individuals in managing their health and 
46.5% of the public expressed an interest in having a PHR. Nearly 57% 
of the public express concern over the privacy and security of their 
data and more than 90% felt that their expressed consent should be 
required for each use of their information.

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