Calling up your health history could be as easy as hopping on the Internet and typing in a password.
Utah is now one of two states in the country participating in a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services personal health record pilot program.
Unlike electronic health records, which are controlled by health care providers, personal health records are managed by patients. Allergies, medications, and lab results can be entered by the patient, then shared with whomever the patient wants, including family members and physicians.
Medicare beneficiaries will have four companies to choose from: Google Health, HealthTrio, NoMoreClipboard.com and PassportMD. Depending on which program the patient chooses, he or she may be able to link to his pharmacy data, or to tools that help track diet and exercise or detect potentially dangerous medication interactions.
Some programs are free, while others charge for "concierge" services, adding features such as notes from health care providers. On request, Medicare will provide two years of claims data.
The idea is to give beneficiaries more control over their health information, but in a way that protects privacy and is portable. Ideally, providers will save time collecting the data and, with it, make fewer medical errors.
"I applaud them for just getting started and for encouraging the beneficiaries to begin to understand their own health and begin to take some responsibility," said
Jan Root, executive director of the Utah Health Information Network.
Its Clinical Health Information Exchange (cHIE) should be operating by the end of the year. Providers, with patient permission, will be able to more easily tap into both personal health and electronic health records. Instead of having to interact with patients' different records vendors, health care providers would only have to interact with cHIE.
Until that "connect-the-dots" program is functional, Root said, physicians may use personal health records on a limited basis.
Noridian Administrative Services, the company that processes Utah and Arizona Medicare claims, is coordinating the pilot program, which runs through Dec. 31. A letter with details of the options will be mailed to Utah Medicare beneficiaries this month. The project does not include those using Medicare Advantage plans.
lrosetta@sltrib.com
How it works
Starting this week, Utahns on Medicare can sign up for a personal health record tool that will help manage medical information and make it portable.
Beneficiaries can choose a program from one of four companies. Some offer their services for free, but others charge for "concierge" services.
Beneficiaries will be able to add their own information. If they choose, Medicare will upload up to two years of beneficiaries' claims data. To see more of The Salt Lake Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sltrib.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, The Salt Lake Tribune