PHR in Arizona
Personal Health Records (PHRs) are in use in Arizona by consumers and clinicians alike. A recent Deloitte Center for Health Solutions Survey indicates that even though only 25% of consumers maintain a personal health record of any kind (paper or electronic), 46% say they are interested in using a software program or website to create an electronic personal health record.
PHRs of all varieties are used especially for tracking histories of medications, allergies, conditions, immunizations, procedures, encounters, as well as family history. Laboratory and radiology results, insurance information, provider lists, demographic information, home monitoring results, advance directives/living wills and general information (free text) are also often stored in PHRs.
Medicare PHR Choice Program in Arizona and Utah
Original Medicare beneficiaries who are permanent residents of Arizona or Utah can now have free access to a personal health record. A new program, Medicare PHR Choice, helps eligible Medicare beneficiaries build their own personal health record. If a beneficiary choosea one of the four preferred PHR companies, he/she can authorize Medicare to send up to two years of past claims to the personal health record to help the beneficiary get started. The four PHR vendors chosen by Medicare for the Arizona and Utah pilot include:
For more information on the Medicare PHR program, visit our Medicare PHR page or www.medicare.gov/phr.
Other PHR Programs in Arizona
In Arizona, some consumers are introduced to PHRs by their physician, who offers access to a system that is either "tethered" (merely attached) or "integrated" (can exchange data) with their Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. These are often used as a point of patient education, providing online scheduling of appointments, and other services such as patient reminders, prescription refill requests, and online provider-patient communications.
Some Arizona employers have also begun providing PHRs to their employees. Arizona employers known to currently provide PHRs include IBM, Marriott, and Starbucks. The employer-led Dossia not-for-profit will also be launching a state-of-the-art personal health platform for the consortium's employees, which are estimated to include at least 100,000 Arizonans. Dossia founding companies, Wal-Mart, Intel Corporation, Pitney Bowes, AT&T, BP (including am/pm stores), sanofi-aventis, Cardinal Health, Applied Materials and Toyota, all have significant operations and investments in Arizona. This program is starting with Wal-Mart employees in late 2008.
Quest Diagnostics, which provides laboratory services to millions of Arizonans, has announced a partnership with Google, while Mayo Clinic has made a similar announcement with Microsoft HealthVault. Similarly, EMR vendors NextGen and Allscripts, which have significant market penetration in Arizona clinician offices, have announced partnerships with Microsoft HealthVault. While the details of these partnerships are not yet known, it is possible that portions of many Arizonans' medical records may be available in the future through the personal health platforms of these major technology companies.
Many Arizonans also have available a personal health record based on claims (not clinical) data through their insurance company. It is a convenient way to track information that is made available to your insurance company when providers file claims, and often there are consumer-editable portions of the record, also.
It is clear that the personal health record choices for Arizonans, and associated marketing and education programs targeting their use, will be increasing. Arizona Health-e Connection recommends all Arizonans review the consumer recommendations provided by AMIA/AHIMA on our PHR Resources page.
