ON THE RECORD On the record

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Feb 27, 2006 by Morgan Chilson Capital-Journal

ELECTRONIC ADVANCES

Companies moving to provide easy access

to patient history during times of crisis

ANN WILLIAMSON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Amy Raye, a medical records technician for release of information, looks at patient records at St. Francis Health Center.

By Morgan Chilson

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The importance of easy access to medical records was highlighted after Hurricane Katrina, when thousands of critical health documents were lost.

In 2004, President Bush called for most Americans to have an electronic record of their health care information in the next decade.

A Topeka doctor is serving on the board of one company that hopes to make strides toward reaching that goal.

Dr. Shekhar Challa, president of Kansas Medical Clinic, serves on the board of mymedicalrecords.com, a Los Angeles company launched after Katrina to help individuals maintain online copies of critical medical documents.

The Web site joins numerous others in offering a secure way to store those records for fees from $29.95 per year and up. Once a client signs up for the service, he or she receives a personal toll- free telephone number that serves as their password. This number can be used to receive faxes and voice messages and serves as the customer's user ID. Every document faxed to that number or voice message left becomes a new record in the client's account.

Mymedicalrecords.com also gives customers a series of "authorization stickers" imprinted with that toll-free number to give to doctors so they can fax in medical records upon the customer's request.

"It is very secure. It is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant," Challa said.

With many health care organizations moving toward placing medical records online, something that Stormont-Vail HealthCare has done locally, it is important for patients to be aware of how secure those electronic records are. HIPAA, passed in 1996, set national standards for electronic health care transactions.

Jeff Hall, director of information services and information security officer for St. Francis Health Center, said he would take a close look at any organization where files are stored.

"I'd certainly want to check on the organization," he said. "Check for history of any type of fraud or lack of security. I would look at somebody that has a bit of a history in the business or has been in the business for a while."

Hall looked at the mymedicalrecords.com Web site and said the security they have in place seems good.

Although maintaining medical records in an emergency situation can be crucial, one reason the Bush administration has pushed for electronic record keeping in health care is to reduce redundancies and errors. For instance, if a patient is seeing several doctors of various specialties, he or she may end up having the same test done at different offices.

"One of the biggest challenges health care systems have is duplication," Challa said. "Let's say I have a patient in my office, I do a bunch of tests and this patient shows up in the emergency room. They have no clue what was done, so there's a good chance they'll repeat a bunch of tests."

The challenge, though, is making sure that those electronic medical records would even be accessed during an emergency. Dr. Mike Atwood is a family physician for Stormont-Vail HealthCare and also serves as physician IT liaison. Stormont-Vail has spent significant dollars in the past few years to put medical records online. Through the system they use, Atwood said he is familiar with www.capmed.com, which works a little different than mymedicalrecords.com.

At capmed, the patient receives a USB flashdrive, those little computer gadgets that plug into a USB port on the computer and can carry data. The medical records are downloaded onto the drive and the client then keeps it with him or her.

The challenge, Atwood said, is getting people to use the portable electronic records.

"We haven't pursued that in large part because it's been my experience that the people who are most interested in this type of feature are patients who might have the least need for it," he explained.

Many people who would be willing to carry the USB drive or use something like mymedicalrecords are younger, with fewer health problems and a less complicated medical history, Atwood said. If they are involved in an emergency situation, the doctors treating them are less likely to need medical information immediately.

"As opposed to my father, who is 86," Atwood said. "If he had an accident down in Florida, wouldn't it be nice if he pulled this out and it had his med list and his past hospitalizations and past procedures?"

But older people often don't want to be troubled with carrying the USB drive around, and are less likely to use it, Atwood said.

For information on establishing a personal health record and options for doing that through online providers, computer programs or by hand, Atwood recommended visiting the following site, www.myphr.com/your_record/index.asp.

Morgan Chilson is a freelance writer living in Shawnee County. She may be reached at morgan@exactlywrite.net.