The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today announced the selection of four personal health record (PHR) companies to participate in the new Medicare PHR Choice Pilot in Arizona and Utah. Beginning in early 2009, this pilot program will offer beneficiaries with Original Medicare the opportunity to choose one of the selected PHR companies to maintain their health record information electronically.
The four selected companies are Google Health, HealthTrio, NoMoreClipboard.com, and PassportMD. These choices offer beneficiaries a range of product choices from ones that are free to ones that have “concierge” service as well as a diverse set of connections to healthcare providers, pharmacies, and other sources of health information.
PHRs are tools that can help consumers manage their health and health care services. A PHR, which is controlled by the consumer, is different than an electronic health record, which is owned by and under the control of the physician. Sometimes it only contains data entered by the individual or his or her provider, but it can also include information from a health plan--as is the case in this pilot, where Medicare will provide health information from its claims database. Read the announcement.
