More coverage this week on using a PHR (personal health record), this time from Joan Lunden. There are many out there to choose from, some are free and some require a fee, such as the one mentioned in this article.
Are you a confused consumer? With all the available options out there today, it is easy to get confused, so don’t feel bad. Myself, I prefer the “free” online health accounts, Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health, and I have accounts with both being I evaluate and try to report back on what’s new and new vendor associations. 
In my own personal opinion, there is the concern over privacy, but when you look at it, who is providing privacy, encryption, etc. for the enterprise, none other than Microsoft. Most consumers are not aware of the extensive software they create for security, so just for the record, it is massive. In other words if companies as such were able to provide security solutions to the likes of Wall Street, am I worried? Not really, and the convenience of the vendors being able to input the data is huge. The main element for me is the ability to have control and choose who I want to share without an automated process doing this for me. I see my records and I can update and look for errors too with information imported from a hospital or physician, thus I gain better control over my records.
Not to discount HIPAA provisions in any way as we need privacy, but I get nervous when I post articles about security breaches that come from HIPAA compliant systems, as does everyone, if they are compliant, why do we have breaches? Most of the time it is human error usually that leads to a breach of security. Also one other item that sticks in my brain, is the fact that Microsoft and Google are not supported by any risk management firms related to insurance and consumer trust is big on the list for both. Again, this is just my opinion only, but what if I used another firm who could be purchased by another firm, what happens then? There’s a lot of that going on today in healthcare with the small fish being gobbled up by the large fish. I don’t seem to have that worry with the 2 big software companies as they are pretty much setting the standards and are largely involved with helping the government as well, thus my option is to stay with the folks that see security as number one, those who work at all levels from the consumer to the enterprise. There are links on the blog to both if you want to inquire are get started with an online health record. BD
Several companies are offering programs that allow users to get more organized and store their medical information online. Everything from prescriptions to diagnoses can be housed and some believe online medical records are the way of the future. PassportMD is one of many companies that provide these services. Others include Google, Microsoft's HealthVault and Dossia, which provides personal health records for Walmart and other big companies.
ABC News: Getting Organized With Online Medical Records
Spot on! thanks for the detailed info on PHR !
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