Education

AccessMyHealth.org is focused on helping consumers and patients safely explore the great opportunities around online health information. We want you to know more, so you can help us learn more.

So Whose Record is it Anyway?

In our current healthcare system, doctors own the medical records they create for their patients and keep them at their practice site. A federal law, known as Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, governs privacy of those records. Since April of 2003, HIPAA has given doctors, as the keepers of those records, the ability to share your medical records with other doctors involved in your care without waiting for your written consent. This means doctors and their staff shoulder the main burden of moving health information around the healthcare system. It also allows them to share your medical information with whoever is paying for your care (insurers and self-insured employers) and with other companies when necessary to support the operation of their business.

Signing the Forms

Most of us remember being asked to sign a Privacy Policy as part of our paperwork when we check in to see the doctor. However, many people assume that this is some sort of consent or authorization to share their information—one they can accept or deny. It is more likely to be a notification required by HIPAA to make patients aware of the doctors’ ability to share their information for the purposes of “treatment, payment or operations” as described above. This movement of information is standard practice in today’s healthcare industry and was intended to facilitate patient care.

A New Way of Moving Information

AccessMyHealth.org is working toward developing another healthcare information system where you, the patient, have access to a copy of the records kept by doctors and can share it with whomever you decide needs it—whether it’s an emergency room doctor, your pharmacist, a family member or caregiver, even the school nurse.

The AccessMyHealth.org vision is one in which you would have a convenient way to see, to use, and to share your own health information. In this vision, there is a place where you can integrate information from all the places it is currently scattered: your doctor’s office, pharmacy, the Emergency Room, your specialists’ office, your chiropractor’s office…and the list goes on. You would have the opportunity to add valuable information that only you, as the patient, can know. Creating this complete picture of your health and the healthcare you’ve received may be the single most important thing you can do to improve your health and the quality of healthcare you receive.

You would also have the ability to share your health information with others outside healthcare. Currently, HIPAA regulations actually hinders this information sharing instead of improving it. Isn’t it time that you had the same access to and authority over moving your own records that are common in other industries like banking, commerce, and travel?

Gaining access to your personal health information online doesn’t change the way medical information moves around the healthcare system under HIPAA, but it does create the ability for you to participate in your care in ways you haven’t before: by adding relevant information, delivering information to those who need it when they need it, and comparing the information you and your doctor have to make sure you are working together effectively. All these things will positively impact your care and your health.

Washington State Takes the Lead

Although people and organizations across the country are trying to tackle these same issues, Washington State, with the launch of the Health Care Authority’s Consumer-Controlled Health Record Bank Pilot projects, is leading the nation in figuring out the details of how to give consumers more access to their own health information so that they become more knowledgeable partners in their healthcare..

Want to learn more?

For more information on AccessMyHealth.org and our approach to engaging consumers like you in considering the issues around online personal health records, take a look at this short presentation or visit the About Us section of our website.

There are many, many academic papers, research studies and media articles about the different kinds of personal health records and online tools. We’ve gathered some of our favorite information here. But a short and easy-to-understand definition of what it is and why it matters is hard to find. We’re working on it! We will update this page with information and resources to help you understand the ins and outs of online personalized health records. Stay tuned!

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