Personal Health Record Possible, Portable, Private? Meet the Experts - Scenarios InfoFair 2010

Portable Jim Smith lives in Salt Lake City and has diabetes with various complications. He has received treatment for his conditions from multiple health care providers from three local area health care facilities – Intermountain Health Care, the VA and the University of Utah. He carries a flash drive with him that contains all of his personal health information that he has collected from these three institutions and from his own entry of OTC drugs and other health history information prior to living in SLC. He is delighted that he is able to take his personal health history with him but wishes he could store his record at the facilities from which he receives care. What are the implications and possibilities for this to happen in the near future? What does he need to consider to do so? Who can assist him with making this happen? Who is liable for the content of the record?

Possible From Google Health – “Since GenX Jerry’s career, marriage prospects, insurance coverage, love life, and tax bill depend on the contents of his Google Health record, he hires a health record repair company to review, correct and authenticate his health details and to estimate the damage bad data has done.” Who is accountable for this record? Who has responsibility to correct any errors that may appear within the record? Can legal action be taken if incorrect information is entered into the record by others or if old health information is not deleted if entered from an EHR– and should old information be deleted?

Private From Google Health – “Pharma Phil doesn’t always take his hypertension medicine, and his insurance company warns him that his e-prescriptions have not been filled by his on-line drug store. Phil’s wife Phyllis – and her primary care physician – get notices of impending polypharmacy; she’s getting too many different prescriptions from different doctors as well as vitamin and supplements reported through the pharmacy link. Their insurance won’t pay for non-standard care.” What’s the likelihood of this scenario happening? How are pharmacies interacting with PHRs? How will patients get around this if they are taking advantage of using multiple pharmacies to get all the medication they desire? What are the privacy issues with this scenario?