CMS Introduces Personal Health Record Pilot

Beginning in January, Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona and Utah will have the opportunity to make health history by participating in a personal health record, or PHR, pilot program.

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt introduced the Medicare PHR Choice Pilot during a press conference Nov. 12 in Phoenix. Leavitt joined the event by teleconference from Washington, as did a host of media outlets, including AAFP News Now.

Leavitt announced four vendors -- chosen from a field of 18 applicants -- that were awarded contracts for the one-year pilot. Each company brings something unique to the table, said Leavitt. Specifically,

Unlike electronic health records, or EHRs, which are owned by physicians and other health care providers, "personal health records are owned by the patient and are under the control of the patient," said Leavitt.

"PHRs can contain a wealth of information entered by patients, their providers, and in some cases, their health plan," he added. At the heart of the Medicare PHR pilot is the ability of Medicare -- at the patient's request -- to populate a PHR with two years of previous Medicare claims data.

Speaking from the Phoenix press conference, CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems said, "This pilot is on a fast track. Time is short. Especially given the 'silver tsunami' of baby boomers that are on the cusp of retirement." Weems said computer-savvy beneficiaries would "expect to use a personal health record" instead of the traditional paper claims form.

CMS has been working for several years "to build a framework for an interconnected electronic information system that works quickly and seamlessly," said Weems. "PHRs are another piece in this puzzle."

With Internet access, "users can download their files from secure Web sites and populate them with information about health conditions, allergies, when they've last seen a doctor, when they last went to the hospital and what happened to them in those settings," he said.

A unique feature of the PHR pilot is consumer choice. "We're inviting people in Arizona and Utah to select the PHR that they think works best for them," said Weems.

Jeff Donnell, VP of marketing for NoMoreClipboard.com, said during the press conference that Americans share a common experience of sitting in doctors' offices with a clipboard full of medical forms to fill out.

"And we struggle in that doctor's office waiting room to remember our medications and allergies and procedures. We're frustrated, we're aggravated, and then we hand that back to the doctor's office staff. Of course, it's no picnic for them because what they end up with is a form that's generally illegible, incomplete and inaccurate."

Donnell called the announcement of the PHR project a "momentous occasion." The net result of having patients manage their own health information is that physicians will get a much clearer picture of a patient's health status, said Donnell. The PHR will facilitate the flow of communication between physician and patient and also will help "improve the coordination of care, reduce errors and just overall improve health outcomes," he said.

Weems said that there were about one million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries within the pilot project boundaries. He said vendors were responsible for creating outreach programs to patients and physicians.

In a subsequent interview with AAFP News Now, Donnell said that his company understands that the proliferation of consumer-created PHRs will put increasing pressure on physicians to be able to accept patient information.

"We don't want to force the physicians or the practices to have to alter the way they practice medicine … to accommodate the PHR," said Donnell. The patient-supplied information should integrate right into the practice workflow, he added.

He said Medicare beneficiaries, caregivers, physicians and other stakeholders need to learn about the value and the benefits of PHRs. "This pilot is as much about awareness-building and educating people about this emerging category (of health IT) as it is about trying to promote a particular brand," said Donnell.