Blue plans, health industry group plan PHR

It's dueling data stores, everyone. This week, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and health industry trade group America's Health Insurance Plans have announced that they're creating their own personal health record (PHR) model. This new PHR would be transferable from one insurance company to another. The effort, which should go live in 2008, will presumably compete with the giant personal health record effort being launched by a handful of mega-employers like Wal-Mart Stores and Intel.

The main difference between the two efforts, not surprisingly, is that in this model, the insurers control the data, while in the other initiative, employers will build a data warehouse of their own. Initial announcements of the plan were light on technical detail, although AHIP did note that their proposed PHR will be Web-based, and integrate administrative and claims data as well as personal health information. Core data elements will include patient histories, medication lists, immunizations, allergies, risks and plans of care.

The two health industry groups also announced that they'd be pilot-testing the program with the National Health Council, on a project focused on the needs of people with chronic conditions and disabilities.

ALSO: While it might not have any co-sponsors this time around, it's still a sign of the times. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) filed a bill this year offering a financial reward to doctors who build PHRs. Link

For more information on the project:
- see this press release from AHIP
- read this Workforce Management article

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