• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Savvy healthcare consumers do their homework before selecting PHRs

EHR Connection, May 19, 2008

With approximately 200 options for PHR storage available on the market, healthcare consumers certainly have plenty of choices, but will they choose wisely?

A growing number of employers, health insurers, and other companies now offer PHRs, electronic records that serve as a repository for an individual’s medical history, SmartMoney reported in a May 1 article. With costs ranging from free to as much as $200, PHRs can maintain records of physician visits, your medications, immunizations, allergies, cholesterol level, and even your family’s medical history.

You, and anyone to whom you grant permission, can access your medical information via the Internet, according to the article. And that’s why it’s important to consider both the benefits and drawbacks beforehand.

The most touted benefit of PHRs is their potential to reduce medical costs by eliminating unnecessary and redundant tests, SmartMoney reported. If your PHR indicates that your primary care physician recently ordered a blood test to check your cholesterol level, your cardiologist won’t repeat the test unnecessarily.

A major risk of some PHRs is that they fall outside the umbrella of legal protections such as HIPAA that regulate the manner in which healthcare providers and health insurers use and disclose patient medical information.

Decide what you want from a PHR before you shop for one, according to the article. Do some research, read the fine print, and be wary of checked boxes that seek your consent to share data with other third parties.

Click here to read more about evaluating and selecting PHRs in the SmartMoney article.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive