Insurers Announce Personal Health Record Model
December 19th, 2006
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) announced December 13 they have developed a model personal health record—a private, secure web-based tool maintained by an insurer that contains a consumer’s claims and administrative information.
As a result of insurance claims filed on behalf of consumers, insurers already have the information needed to provide PHRs, and are in a unique position to build them for consumers in the near term, AHIP said in a press release.
PHRs are distinct from electronic health records, which providers use to store and manage detailed clinical information, the release explained.
“Efforts such as those by health insurance plans to provide consumers with portable PHRs are a step forward in the national health IT agenda. We welcome your continued work to achieve interoperable, consumer-centric health information,” said Robert M. Kolodner, MD, Interim National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Department of Health and Human Services.
According to AHIP, insurers worked closely with standards organizations to ensure the plans’ PHRs are compatible with standards that are being developed for the goal of a fully interoperable healthcare system.
To view the press release, visit the AHIP website.
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