1. What constitutes a health identity?
We
are all aware of the Social Security Number- it uniquely identifies us and our
financial behaviors making it easy for us to borrow money, get insurance and
much more. But when it comes to our health and medical records it is not a very
consistent or standardized experience across the physicians, labs, drugstores
or hospitals that we go to. Topping it all is the fast evolving online health
care and the imperative for a comprehensive digital identity that collects,
trends and makes all aspects of your health data securely and accurately available
to those that need to interact with the information in a timely manner.
There
are several acronyms you hear like PHR, EMR/ EHR, HRA, HIPAA etc, that describe
platforms that digitize medical records or provide consumer protection of the
information.
EMR/ EHR: Electronic Medical (or Health)
Records are safe and confidential record your doctor, other health care
provider, medical office staff, or a hospital keeps on a computer about your
health care or treatments
PHR: Personal Health Record is a secure
collection of all aspects of your health services, insurance information, test
results, treatments or a collection of all your EMR / EHRs in one place
2. How do you contribute?
HRA: Health Risk Assessment(s) are evaluations
that your providers (physicians, hospitals etc) and payors (insurance
companies, employers) conduct to capture at a moment of time your health state.
You fill out several questionnaires when signing up for insurance or seeing a
doctor for the first time. These are all captured in the form of PHRs or EMRs
by entities that provide adhoc or recurring health care services for you.
3. How are you protected?
HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (1996) is a privacy rule provides federal protections for
personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an
array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy
Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of personal health
information needed for patient care and other important purposes. The Security
Rule specifies a series of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards
for covered entities to use to assure the confidentiality, integrity, and
availability of electronic protected health information.