America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) of Washington, DC, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) report that they are making progress in the development of a portable U.S. personal health record (PHR).
The organizations said they have developed and pilot-tested standards enabling consumers to transfer PHR data when they change insurance coverage. Their PHR is a private Web-based tool maintained by an insurer that contains a consumer's claims and administrative information that will allow patients and their designated caregivers to view and manage health information.
Members of the two groups cover more than 200 million lives in the U.S., and an estimated 70 million people have PHRs through health insurers, with millions more scheduled for the service in 2007, according to the organizations.
The AHIP and BCBSA standards initiative comes on the heels of an announcement last week by Applied Materials, BP America, Intel, Pitney Bowes, and Wal-Mart Stores that the firms have contributed $1.5 million each toward the development of a PHR, Dossia from the Portland, OR-based Omnimedix Institute, which they will offer to their 2.5 million employees covered by healthcare plans.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
December 15, 2006
Related Reading
Report: Electronic claim submission triples, May 29, 2006
Insurer group promotes health record interoperability, May 19, 2006
Copyright © 2006 AuntMinnie.com
