This report originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Charles W. Boustany, Jr., (R-LA) have introduced legislation to amend the HITECH Act in order to enhance the interoperability and the meaningful use of electronic medical records with personal health records. The legislation is H.R. 4216, the Personal Health Record Act of 2009.

The legislation would enable the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to develop guidelines for making electronic health records interoperable with personal health records. This would improve health care quality, reduce medical errors, and advance the delivery of patient-centered medical care and health management. The guidelines would include recommendations for making electronic health records available between the individual and community health centers and behavioral health service providers.
Required components of a personal health record under this act could include monitoring who accesses the record, automated reminders and education tools, ability for a patient to annotate the record and leave feedback for the health care provider, and emergency access procedures for medical personnel in cases where a patient or authorized representative is unable to give consent. ONC would also report to Congress on the technological, medicolegal, medical safety and other pertinent issues related to an individual's control of a personal health record.

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