Legal Research

ONC to Develop Online PHR Model

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) plans to develop an online personal health record (PHR) model to help the general public understand PHRs.

A recent notice in the Federal Register announced the plan to create this model which will “be developed to allow presentation of important PHR facts and policies to consumers, allow consumers to understand and cosistently compare PHR service provider policies with others, and focus on the key information that may influence decisions and choices of PHR service provider”.   The notice also stated that “ONC is taking steps to establish that useful facts about PHRs and PHR privacy information be made available to consumers so they can make informed decisions about selecting and using PHRs”.   ONC will test consumer understanding about the PHR model in six locations across the nation which cover the four U.S. geographic regions.  The model will be revised as ONC gets feedback by interviewing six to seven participants at each of the six locations.  These participants will be selected according to census statistics for race/ethnicity, age, marital status, gender and income so that all groups in that location are covered.  Also the sample of participants will include those that are familiar with and those that are unfamiliar with PHRs as well as participants who manage chronic health issues for themselves or others.

Gaining the public’s trust in the privacy of their online health information is essential to the success of the entire National Health IT program as I have blogged in the past (specifically discussing patient privacy and the success of England’s National Health Service IT Programme, which is ahead of ours in development).

The ONC model plan seems like a good start.  I am particularly impressed to see that the PHR model will not start out as “carved in stone” but will be continually revised according to the feedback received.

Full post as published by Jenkins Webblits on June 01, 2009 (boomark / email).