The new AMA playbook reviews HIPAA misconceptions that often hamper patient data access.A new playbook from the American Medical Association (AMA) reviews the ins and outs of facilitating patient data access over electronic devices, underscoring the importance of patients having access to their own medical records.
The 104-page compendium of digital patient data access works under the agreement that patient data access is a fundamental right and an essential part of good patient engagement and self-management.
“As technology plays an increasingly important role in collecting and exchanging health data, the AMA believes that providing patients with improved information access and better information privacy are not mutually exclusive goals,” AMA Board Chair Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, said in a statement.
“Patients deserve both, and the new playbook is an important example of the AMA’s commitment to ensuring patients can easily access their personal health information that has been entrusted to physicians.”
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Patient data access has long been heralded as the foundation of good patient engagement. As providers continue to ask their patients to play a larger role in managing their own wellness or chronic illnesses, giving patients access to their medical information is supremely important.
But doing so has proven easier said than done. Convoluted health technologies, limited patient portal adoption, lapses in interoperability, and misconceptions about the HIPAA privacy rule have kept some providers from fully giving patients access to their own medical records.
This four-part playbook from AMA aims to address challenges, specifically HIPAA myths, and connect more patients with their health records.
“Not only is electronic patient access a step toward better care and lower costs, but it is also every patient’s right,” AMA wrote in the playbook. “Federal and state laws provide patients the right to obtain access to much of their health information.”
More specifically, HIPAA mandates patient data access and requires providers to issue health records to authorized representatives. Representatives can include, for example, an adult child helping take care of her aging parents or the legal guardian of a child.
The playbook dives deeply into HIPAA regulations, including outlining who can access medical records, which records can specifically be accessed, fees for issuing data access, and the medium over which providers must issue medical records.
The playbook also covers the role that the patient portal and patient apps play in HIPAA compliance. Patient portals, while helpful, do not grant access to a patient’s entire record set. Patients still have the right to view and access all of their medical records, AMA reminds, and should be able to gain that access over several different media.
Healthcare organizations must also be able to put this information into action, the playbook acknowledges. By outlining strategies for integrating knowledge about HIPAA compliance into practice, organizations can make it easier for patients to obtain their own health records.
Specifically, organizations need to take the time to understand their EHR’s capabilities, including how the EHR can send patient information to other providers, display information in the patient portal, and export data to a CD or USB drive.
Other customer service considerations will also be important for this extremely patient-facing process, AMA says. Specifically, organization leaders should be mindful that:
- Patients have a right to their medical records
- Patients are not required to use the patient portal, and still maintain the right to obtain their full medical records
- Patient requests for medical records could be under time constraints, i.e., necessary for obtaining a specialist appointment
- Patients with serious or complex illness may rely on family members to manage their healthcare, and providers must be mindful of and as accommodating as possible in these cases
Similarly, healthcare organizations should take steps to encourage patients to look at their own medical records. As noted above, patient data access is the crux of many patient engagement initiatives.
Providers can outline patient data access and patient portal use for new patients at the start of their first visit with the clinic, and subsequently follow up with reminders to view their own health data. Understanding and then utilizing data access apps will also be helpful for providers working to improve patient engagement.
“Most importantly, encourage each patient to use apps and access to health information to become an active champion of his or her health,” the playbook concludes. “Patients can better manage their health by understanding and managing all of their health information.”
Source: Patient Engagement Hit