Health records and patient portals

ONLINE HEALTH

Patient health portals are an excellent way for patients to have access to their own health information anytime, anywhere using the internet.  Health portals store patient information such as lab results, immunizations, allergies, discharge instructions, medications, and recent doctor visits.

Some portals even allow you to update your information, check benefits, request medication refills, exchange emails with health care providers, make payments and schedule appointments.

Having access to health information such as lab results and medications can empower you as a patient.  It can help your providers offer you more informed and quality care.  It is a great tool for you and your provider to be informed of all of your healthcare information.

It is a good idea to keep all of your health information in one place, especially if you are seeing multiple providers. Personal health records are a place to store all your health information electronically, then you can control who has access to this information. This is often information you enter yourself or upload your health documents.

It is important to know that personal health records are not your official health record and not considered legal records.  This means it is not protected by HIPPA.  When choosing a personal health record, research who has access to the information, is the information going to be sold, can the information be used for benefit coverage or employment decisions, can the user control who sees and shares the information,and who has rights to the collected information?