Caregivers and PHRs

Does CMS offer a Personal Health Record (PHR) for people with Medicare?

If you are a caregiver for someone with Medicare, you may be able to use a Personal Health Record (PHR) to help manage their health care. If you help make health care decisions for a loved one or take care of someone with Medicare, you do not automatically have a right to see or use their medical information, even though you may need it in order to make sure their care is coordinated. By law, only the patient has the right to their own health information, even if you are an immediate family member or if you help set up their PHR. However, if your loved one has or wants to have their information kept in a personal health record and wants you to be able to use it, have them submit a written authorization to his/her doctors, healthcare facilities and health plan so that you can have appropriate access to all of their health care information. You may already have filed an authorization with the individuals' provider or health plan for this type of access under the HIPAA privacy rule. It is important that the authorization be complete and comprehensive - and that it gives the provider (doctor or hospital) permission to release all information regarding treatment and care to you, and/or anyone else designated. The authorization should also include the names of people the information should NOT be shared with, such as an estranged relative. Some PHRs have a place on the home page that allows the individual to give permission to other people to access the tool. That person will then have their own User ID and password.

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