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In an effort to improve patient-doctor communication, researchers are launching a pilot program in which approximately 25,000 patients will have access to notes their doctors have made in their medical records.
The “OpenNotes” initiative has enrolled 100 primary-care doctors in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington state to participate for a 12-month test period starting this summer.
It’s not a new law, but it’s a tangible, short-term step toward protecting the privacy of patient data that travels online. To address loopholes in current patient privacy legislation, the Health and Human Services Department on Thursday proposed privacy rules that would apply to vendors of technology that transmit personal health data.
The existing privacy law, the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), mostly applies to providers and healthcare plans. It does not cover third-party health information technology companies, including Google and Microsoft, which now handle mounds of personal health data because patients, doctors and hospitals are increasingly turning to the Internet to improve care. Google and Microsoft offer so-called personal health records that patients create and control.
One of the goals of improved healthcare in the U.S. is to ensure that health insurance is portable. The idea is that people should be able to change jobs, move around the country, and still be enrolled in the same health insurance plan.
Still, when a person from Texas relocates to California and changes physicians, the new doctor may know more about that person’s health insurance than his or her physical condition. To obtain information about the new patient’s health usually calls for the doctor to conduct a complete physical exam, perhaps order a few tests, and depend upon the patient’s recollections to create a medical history.
Maintaining a personal health record (PHR) is the key to my existence today. My PHR experience started in the early 1970’s. My parents were diligent about keeping comprehensive and up-to-date files and medical records for me, due to a near medical error as a child. I was almost given the wrong medication by the physician in an emergency situation.
A friend reviewed my medical history with me, including all of my illnesses and health issues. She asked me to start at the top of my head and to go all the way to my toes, and to list anything that was wrong including explanations for any scars.
I take approximately 15 different medications. My PHR helped my surgeon’s office with the medical information they needed to access for inclusion in their records. When I was admitted to the hospital for the surgery they already had all of the information copied from my PHR for the doctor.
- Should my PHR include emergency contact information?
- Can my parents view my PHR?
- Where do I go if I can't find the information I need on your Web site?
- What is the training for people involved in managing my health records?
- Does AHIMA store copies of my health record?
- What do I do if I believe my health information privacy rights have been violated?
- More...
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