The Need to Know: Addressing Concerns about Privacy and Personal Health Records

Publication Date: December 2007

Publisher: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s): Project HealthDesign

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

As personal information increasingly flows in bits and bytes and consumers are playing more active roles in their health, the need to use secure technologies and establish appropriate privacy practices goes beyond the scope of exchanging information between health care facilities, insurers and other entities.

While traditional personal health records (PHRs) have focused primarily on information generated through interactions with the health care system—such as reminders, medications and lab results—Project HealthDesign grantees are looking at health information that consumers generate in the course of their daily lives.

The latest Project HealthDesign e-primer explores how new ways of thinking about PHRs raise new issues about privacy, and highlights how tools for patient self-management expose both the promise and the challenge of maintaining personal privacy.