Your medical records online: Is it safe?

Have you ever been frustrated by the time it takes for your doctor's office to send your information to other medical professionals? Do you just wish there was a way they could just do a couple of clicks on their computer and have everything they need?

That day might be here, however some are concerned if this is necessarily a step forward. In May, a beta version of Google Health was launched. This online application allows physicians and pharmacists to upload patient information to it, as well as offering searches for medical professionals and allowing people to book appointments.

The launch of Google Health comes on the heels of Microsoft's Health Vault taking to the World Wide Web in October of 2007. As well, Revolution Health, supported by former AOL chairman Steve Chase, is also online.

Will these web-based applications revolutionize patient records or just open the door to medical identity theft?

"The crime occurs when someone uses a person's name and sometimes other parts of their identity - such as insurance information - without the person's knowledge or consent to obtain medical services or goods," Laurinda Harman, professor and chair of health information management at Temple University's College of Health Professions was quoted as saying in a story on physorg.com.

Harman said the consequences of someone else using your medical records could be life-threatening. "If someone were to have a blood transfusion using my name, when I go in to have that same procedure, I could get the wrong blood," she said.

In a May 20 Associated Press article, Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, expressed concern that these online services do not have to adhere to the strict standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The online services do have privacy policies.

"We are in uncharted territory here," Dixon was quoted as saying in the article. "A privacy policy, I don't think, is enough to protect what needs to be protected in a doctor-patient record."

However, spokespeople for the online applications state the information is safe. In creating Health Vault, Microsoft reportedly worked with the Patient Privacy Rights organization to address data protection concerns. Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing Google Health, was quoted in the AP article as saying the records "are generally speaking as safe with Google as they would be with a HIPAA-regulated entity." She noted the information is stored at Google's "highest level of security."

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