When you stop and think about it, there are some real similarities here. Anyone who has ever purchased property knows what an Escrow account is. It is a third party used to to hold money and release it to fund a loan, until everything is verified and the loan process completes.
Personal Health Records (PHR) can be viewed much in the same light when you stop and think about it. There are more vendors coming on the market every day with services to help you. My own personal opinion is that I tend to lean towards companies like Google Health and the Microsoft HealthVault. Why? They are offering a place, a safe haven on a server to create a place to store records. Sure they both have agreements with Healthcare vendors, who are making it easy for the consumer to have the information populated, which is huge, who has the time or the resources to do all of this yourself and have an accurate credible record? 
It comes back around to who do you trust, thus some of the other offers out there could be a little less appealing when it comes down to trusting an insurance company for example that is directly involved in the payment of health claims. Sure you can't denounce anyone for trying to come up with a solution, but what is best for you, as a consumer? It is nice to have claim and healthcare information imported in to a health care records from the insurers, so one does have a more complete record, but where's the strength with the rest of the process?
Google Health and Microsoft are actively adding more healthcare vendors to participate in the programs all the time. Thus I tend to look at both programs as more of an "escrow" account, the 3rd party offering the service without a real conflict of interest or monetary gains at stake due to anything that would be included in my records. One more item to think about as well is reputation, do people trust Google and Microsoft? Take a look around the web and do some checking for yourself if you have questions and you will usually find some pretty good responses from both and neither one charges for the basic services of storing your health records.
So that is how I see the personal health record, an escrow account where you have control over what is shared and with whom. If you haven't taken a look around yet, there are links on this site to both services. A PHR can be like having your own personal health escrow account. BD
My name is Kevin Hauser and I am the Director of New Business Development for MedeFile International. I had come across your blog "Personal Health Records - Like having a Healthcare Escrow Account" in doing some research. I believe MedeFile exemplifies what your are tring to educate patients about.
ReplyDeleteIn brief, MedeFile is an electronic medical records management service that collects, digitizes, stores, and organizes all of our member's ACTUAL medical records. MedeFile gives you the member, the ability to access your complete medical history 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from virtually anywhere in the world. In addition, we provide each full MedeFile member with a MedeDrive. The MedeDrive is a portable USB device that works with any Windows based PC. This device simply plugs in to a USB port and instantly auto loads that member's vital emergency information (Allergies, Medications, Medical Alerts, Emergency Contacts, etc). The MedeDrive also has a password protected area that contains all of that member's ACTUAL medical records as well. Our system also provides for the storage of Advanced Directives (living Wills, DNR's, Health Care Proxies) The MedeDrive does NOT require any internet connection, and can be updated anytime with no additional charges. We have been featured on various news segments with regard to the devastating Hurricanes we have seen in the recent years. MedeFile may also qualify as a medical expense under a Medical Information Plan in IRS Publication 502.
As you mentioned in your blog regarding Google and Microsoft, "Sure they both have agreements with Healthcare vendors, who are making it easy for the consumer to have the information populated, which is huge, who has the time or the resources to do all of this yourself and have an accurate credible record?" Not many do have the time and patience to take care of all that is needed from their providers. Thats why with MedeFile, we do ALL of the work for you. We collect the records, digitize them, organize them and store them so you and only those you authorize have 24/7 access.
I urge you to visit our website at www.medefile.com for more information. Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you may have. Thank you in advance.
khauser@medefile.com