Personal Health Record System

Care Evolution's collaborative Family Health Record (cFHR) was one of the personal health record systems being profiled at the Connecting Americans To Their Health Care: Empowered Consumers, Personal Health Records, and Emerging Technologies national conference in 2006. The innovative tethered personal health record system consolidateds information from payers, insurers, and health care providers so consumers could access and control information about their health and healthcare. Modeled after personal finance manager tools, the cFHR provided connections to health information sources so consumers were not forced to manually enter their health information. cFHR delivered the health care industry analogue of the banking safety deposit box model whereby only the consumer or a specifically authorized designate can access their information.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

In the United States, individual healthcare records' privacy is protected mainly by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. HIPAA provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and their business associates, and it gives patients specific rights concerning their health information.

Here's an overview of key aspects of HIPAA:

1. Privacy Rule: This rule establishes national standards to protect individuals' medical records and other personal health information. It applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically.
2. Security Rule: This rule sets standards for the protection of electronic protected health information (e-PHI) by establishing administrative, physical, and technical safeguards.
3. Breach Notification Rule: This rule requires covered entities and their business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information.
4. Enforcement Rule: This rule contains provisions relating to compliance and investigations, the imposition of civil money penalties for violations of the HIPAA Rules, and procedures for hearings.

In addition to HIPAA, some states have their own laws that provide additional protections to patients and impose obligations on healthcare providers. For instance, the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) offers additional protections beyond HIPAA.

Furthermore, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act was signed into law to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology, which includes additional privacy and security requirements.

Lastly, with the rise of genetic testing and personal genomic services, laws like the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) have been enacted to prohibit genetic discrimination in health insurance and employment.