Medicare to Test an Electronic Personal Health Record (PHR) in South Carolina

South Carolina Nurse, The, Apr-Jun 2008

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a pilot project for people with Original (Fee-For-Service) Medicare living in South Carolina. The project, to be launched in Spring, 2008, will provide people with Medicare free access to a safe and secure electronic Personal Health Record called, My Personal Health Record, South Carolina (MyPHRSC). The goal of the project is to provide people with Medicare access to an electronic Personal Health Record tool that will help them manage and understand their health information, and be able to easily share it with providers, family members and caregivers. An evaluation of the pilot will identify the best methods for outreach and education to encourage adoption and ongoing use of an electronic Personal Health Record.

A Personal Health Record (PHR) is a collection of information about an individual's health or health care services (e.g., provider visits, hospital visits, medical conditions, and personal notes). Personal Health Records may be in paper format (e.g., records that are kept at home, provider records) or in an electronic format (e.g., records stored on the computer or on the internet). Some electronic PHRs are pre-populated with certain information, while others require users to manually enter all of their information. MyPHRSC is an electronic Personal Health Record that is pre-populated with Medicare claims records for the past 24 months for people with Original Medicare who register to use it. This innovative tool provides those register with one convenient location to track their Medicare hospitalizations, diagnosed conditions, and visits. Additionally, those who register to have a PHR may personalize their information by adding notes and additional health-related information to their record. They are encouraged to add their medications, allergies, non-Medicare related health care services, and their own notes. A personalized record provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive information possible. MyPHRSC will be available via the internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through the end of the pilot project.

Although MyPHRSC provides tools to help beneficiaries better communicate with their health care team, sharing this information is a decision made by each individual. Through a simple authorization process, registered users can allow authorized representatives, such as a provider or family member, to have access to their PHR. Beneficiaries may choose to give authorized representatives full access to their record, or they may choose to limit the information that can be seen.

Once the project has been officially launched, people with Medicare can create their free PHR at any time by going to www.myphrsc.com on the web. Signing up for MyPHRSC will be easy to do and only takes a few minutes. Eligible individuals for this pilot must have the Original Medicare Plan and live in South Carolina. They will need internet access, their Medicare number, and some basic personal information to complete the registration process. Providing an email address during registration will yield immediate access to an individual's PHR, and the individual can begin to enter some of their own medical information. Their Medicare claims data will be transferred into the PHR, and available for viewing within 48 hours, once the registration is successfully completed.

Outreach, in the form of advertising, workshops and local events will be targeted to eight counties in the Columbia/Sumter core region. These counties are; Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Richland, Saluda, Sumter, and Newberry. However, all people with traditional (Fee-For-Service) Medicare living in South Carolina will be eligible to create their free PHR through MyPHRSC.

Medicare will be launching the pilot project in the Spring of 2008. To learn more about MyPHRSC, go to www.myphrsc.com. If you would like to be informed when the project has been launched or you have additional questions, send an email to questions@myphrsc.com.