Question

Increasingly patient are creating and maintaining personal health records (PHRs) with data from a variety of health care providers as well as data they have generated about their health. What provisions should be included in a model privacy and security policy that patients might use in making decisions related to their privacy and the security of their PHRs?

Answer 1

It is an Internet based applications that allow you to gather, store, manage and share information about your health. This is known as personal health record which allows an individual to store, manage, and share the medical information.

If you have different health care providers in that case you may have records at a hospital, a physician's office, dentist, pharmacy, and an optician. In this synerio you have the right to access your medical information. PHRs allow you to gather information from multiple sources and keep your medical history as a single record.

Given to understand that you have the rights to preserve the records and medical history at any single record source, which does not mean that you have complete control over who can see your medical records or how they are used. Both federal and state laws govern and have the rights as to what health care providers can do with your personal health information.

A personal health record (PHR) allows you to store, manage, and share your medical information. Internet-based applications that allow you to gather, store, manage and, in some cases, share information about your health or the health of someone in your care.

It’s you likely have many different health care providers and you may have records at a hospital, a physician's office, dentist, pharmacy, and an optician. You also have the right to access your medical information. PHRs allow you to gather information from multiple sources and keep your medical history as a single record.

However, this does not mean that you have complete control over who can see your medical records or how they are used. Both federal and state laws govern what health care providers can do with your personal health information

The PHR have various features and the ability to store and transmit total information about your medical history; your prescriptions, dosages and refills, diagnostic test results conducted at laboratory and imaging, drug alerts, immunization records and physician treatment plans.

Depending on the PHR origination, the privacy protection effect applies. In general, this means that a PHR provided by your doctor or health plan is subject to more privacy laws than a commercial vendor. The person records that a doctor or a health plan provides is subject to laws that protect medical privacy and set security standards, also imposes data breach notification requirements and penalties on this kind of PHRs. The law offers privacy protections for medical information even if they are not affiliated with your doctor or health plan.

This privacy law applies to any business that offers software or hardware to consumers, including a mobile application or other related device that is designed to maintain medical information. But here it is the health care provider or a health plan that offers a PHR. In such a case, the PHR comes under the federal privacy and security rules that protect your medical records and you are liable to receive a notice of privacy practices informing you of protections and rights regarding your medical records. People often mistake this for a consent form.

However, as of date it is unclear how this works with PHRs since you would generally be the one accessing your own PHR, and anyone else who accesses it would need your permission.