CMS is partnering with a group of health plans for a program designed to encourage Medicare beneficiaries to use PHRs. True, CMS already offers the PHRs to patients with Medicare Advantage and/or Medicare Part D coverage, through its www.mymedicare.gov [1] site. But the new program, whose participants include HIP USA, Humana, Kaiser Permanente and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, hopes to boost the level of consumer PHR use [2]. During the pilot, which will run for 18 months, CMS will collect data to get a sense of how consumers use PHRs. With the data in hand, CMS will then pick out which features they like best. CMS also will use study data to design outreach and education efforts intended to boost PHR use.
To find out more about the program:
- read this HealthDecisions.org article [3]
Related Article:
Blue plans, health industry group plan PHR. Report [4]
Giant firms to build employee health records. Report [5]
Links:
[1] http://www.mymedicare.gov/
[2] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/promoting-phr-use-is-it-a-good-idea/2007-04-23
[3] http://www.healthdecisions.org/News/default.aspx?doc_id=123584
[4] http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/blue-plans-health-industry-group-plan-phr/2006-12-18
[5] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/giant-firms-to-build-employee-health-records/2006-11-30