Online Health Insurance Records and Information: Wave of the Future or Privacy Nightmare in the Making?
With the launch of Google Health last week, a big spotlight has been turned onto using the internet for storing private health information. The more dependent we become for the internet and big internet companies such as Google, Microsoft and so on for helping us acquire and store information, the more concerns about privacy, usage of this information and so on are cropping up more and more. This week we will look at some of the concerns about privacy surrounding services like Google Health, as well as some other stories involving taking our health care information and records online.
The big news, of course, was the launch of Google Health last week. TechCrunch took a pretty non-biased look at the service, comparing it with Microsoft's HealthVault and other services such as Aetna's SmartSource. They seemed fairly positive on the service, praising it for its many hundreds of in-depth pages on health-related topics, but saying that many users might find it daunting that they have to input much, if not all of their health records themselves. While Google Health has partnered with some health records providers such as Walgreens, it seems as if they probably need more to make the service more viable for most people.
In an article entitled, "Google Health opens, sparks privacy woes" in Salt Lake Tribune, author Tom Harvey discussed how companies such as Google hope to capitalize on customer's growing desire and need to get health information -- for records, health insurance quotes, or whatever else -- online. While the article talks to some users of the service and how they seem to be happy with it, watchdogs of the industry aren't as pleased. According to the executive director of the World Privacy Forum, services like Google Health are troublesome because they aren't covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This means that by putting records on an external service. it could be easier for the government or other agencies to obtain patient's private information. While Google maintains that the information is held under the "highest level of security," this doesn't seem to have put many pundit's fears to rest just yet.
PC Magazine has an article entitled, "Can We Trust Big Internet Companies With Our Health Data?" in which author Larry Seltzer discusses similar fears to having outside sources such as Google or Microsoft manage our health care data. Since these services aren't covered by the aforementioned HIPAA, it would be up to not only users, but the services themselves to manage and regulate their own records. These services are bound under their own rules, and violating these rules could result in problems with the FTC for violating trade practices. The author calls the ideas behind Google Health and similar services -- putting user's health information in one central place so that any doctor or specialist could access the records if needed -- he goes on to say the services themselves aren't entirely practical.
In another tangent, the California Department of Insurance plans to encourage state health insurance customers to move to online health insurance records based on a study that surveyed major insurers throughout the state, according to a story in the Sacramento Bee entitled, "Insurance Department to urge consumers to embrace online health records." Insurers such as Aetna and Blue Shield, according to the study, feel that online health records can be beneficial in cases of emergencies, allowing doctors and specialists the ability to quickly gather relevant health information on a patient. This would also make it easier for the health insurance companies themselves to manage all the information, since providers such as Google would handle most of it.
In a related story on the KPBS website entitled, "California Insurance Commission to Implement Online Health Records," the state that the state's Insurance Commissioner wants to make it easier for state residents to access their health information by standardizing the records across insurers so that they are easy for doctors and patience to access. This would likely be a big boon for California residents who switch health insurance providers and want all their information to follow them easily.
Up in Seattle, Washington, they're taking a different approach. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a new flash drive called MedFlash is now available to consumers. This is a portable flash drive meant specifically to hold a patient's medical information and history. The flash drive isn't protected or secure, so it's up to the individual to choose how much information goes onto the drive. The health records themselves are held on the MedFlash website and can be accessed either through the secure site or on the drive itself, if the user so chooses. The drive can also be a gateway to the site itself, allowing doctors and specialists to contact someone who has access to the site in order to get the information, rather than have it on the drive itself. I think this is an interesting twist on the idea of health records, but I also wonder who wants to carry a flash drive with them all the time, let alone one with personal information like these? The drives aren't expensive, and neither is access to the MedFlash website, so we will have to see how widely accepted this is.
Getting away from health records online, our final story deals with shopping for health insurance plans online. According a story on iHealthBeat entitled, "Utah Considers Bill To Create Health Care 'Travelocity'," Utah's Health System Reform Task Force is working on a bill to make a user-centric and friendly website to pull together information on health insurance plans, costs, expenses and so on. This would give state residents easy access to a wide variety of health insurance information and would hopefully make it easier for them to shop among health insurance providers. Supporters of the bill also say this would increase transparency, which is necessary for a market-based health care system. It sounds like a terrific idea since it gives more power and knowledge to the customer.
That concludes our Health Insurance News Roundup for this week. Until next week, may you be happy, healthy and wise.