Consumer Table of Contents

G-1.1 Basics of Health IT.

G-1.2 What is Health IT?

G-1.3 Why Adopt Health IT?

G-1.4 What the Government Is Doing.

G-1.5 Meaningful Use of Health IT.

G-2.1 Benefits of Health IT.

G-2.2 Better Quality Care.

G-2.3 Greater Convenience.

G-2.4 More Patient Involvement.

G-2.5 Wider Access to Affordable Health Care.

G-3.1 Protecting your Privacy and Security.

G-3.2 Legal Protections.

G-3.3 What You Can Do.

G-3.4 Technical Safeguards.

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How Health IT Impacts You and Your Family

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Benefits of Health IT

Better Quality Care

Your doctor can’t make good decisions without the right information. When your health care providers have all of your health information at their fingertips, they can make better decisions and give you and your family the best possible care. And health IT can help your doctors share information, so that everyone is on the same page. <<Learn more (link to G-2.2)>>

Greater Convenience

You have a lot on your mind. Especially if you are someone you love has a medical condition. Health IT can give you a few less things to worry about. As health IT evolves, more and more people are able to do things like file health insurance claims automatically, confirm that their medication is ordered and waiting at the pharmacy before they leave their doctor’s office, and avoid spending time filling out the same forms over and over again. <<Learn more (link to G-2.3)>>

More Control

Getting sick is a part of life. And dealing with a medical condition is hard. But managing your health can be made easier. Health IT gives you tools to make coordinating your family’s care simpler, and it puts you at the center of your own health care. <<Learn more (link to G-2.4)>>

G-1.1 Basics of Health IT

Keyword Target:health information technology, health it, definition of ehr, definition of emr

Meta Description: What is health information technology? What is its’ role? Read more about the developments in health information technology.

Title Tag: What is Health IT?

Content:

New technology has changed the way we do almost everything. It’s time for health care to catch up. Today, most doctors and other health care professionals write down medical information on paper charts. They keep these paper charts in folders or file cabinets. But more and more, doctors are using health information technology (health IT) to improve patient care... your care.

But health IT isn’t just for health care providers. You can use health IT to better communicate with your doctor, learn and share information about your health, and take actions that will improve your quality of life. Health IT lets you be a key part of the team that keeps you healthy.

What Is Health IT?

Health IT is the use of computer hardware and software to privately and securely store, retrieve, and share patient health and medical information. Examples of health IT include:

Electronic health records (EHRs) that make it possible for your health care providers to better manage your care. An EHR is built to share information with other health care providers, such as labs and specialists, so an EHR contains information from everyone involved in your care.
Digital pedometers that can record how far you’ve walked each day, and help you set and meet new fitness goals.
Text reminders on your cell phone that can help you remember to take your medications
E-mails that help your doctors and nurse keep in touch with you and provide follow-up care and instructions.

Changing Over to Health IT

Change takes time, and sometimes means a new way of thinking.

But our nation is entering a new era of health care in which providers can use health IT to improve patients’ health and the way health care is delivered. With health IT, care can be made better, safer, and more convenient.

Most people already use the Internet to search for information about their health. And more and more are using tools like pedometers to track how far they’ve walked, or cell phone reminders to remember to take medication. In some places, health IT is already bringing patients and doctors closer together, letting patients be more involved than ever in decisions about their health and health care.

Health IT Terms

Health IT is a big category that includes specific systems—electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic health records (EHRs), and personal health records (PHRs), for instance. You may have heard of some of these systems. But how are they different?

Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR): What’s the Difference? her

EMRs are a digital version of the paper charts in the clinician’s office. An EMR contains the medical and treatment history of the patients in one practice. EMRs have advantages over paper records. For example, EMRs allow clinicians to:

Track data over time
Easily identify which patients are due for preventive screenings or checkups
Check how their patients are doing on certain parameters—such as blood pressure readings or vaccinations
Monitor and improve overall quality of care within the practice

But the information in EMRs doesn’t travel easily out of the practice. In fact, the patient’s record might even have to be printed out and delivered by mail to specialists and other members of the care team. In that regard, EMRs are not much better than a paper record.

Electronic health records (EHRs)do all those things—and more. EHRs focus on the total health of the patient—going beyond standard clinical data collected in the provider’s office and inclusive of a broader view on a patient’s care. EHRs are designed to reach out beyond the health organization that originally collects and compiles the information. They are built to share information with other health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so they contain information from all the clinicians involved in the patient’s care.

The information moves with the patient—to the specialist, the hospital, the nursing home, the next state or even across the country. In comparing the differences between record types,

And that makes all the difference. Because when information is shared in a secure way, it becomes more powerful. Health care is a team effort, and shared information supports that effort.

Benefits of EHRs

With fully functional EHRs, all members of the team have ready access to the latest information allowing for more coordinated, patient-centered care. With EHRs:

The information gathered by the primary care provider tells the emergency department doctor about the patient’s life threatening allergy, so that care can be adjusted appropriately, even if the patient is unconscious.
A patient can log on to his own record and see the trend of the lab results over the last year, which can help motivate him to take his medications and keep up with the lifestyle changes that have improved the numbers.
The lab results run last week are already in the record to tell the specialist what she needs to know without running duplicate tests.
The clinician’s notes from the patient’s hospital stay can help inform the discharge instructions and follow-up care and enable the patient to move from one care setting to another more smoothly.

Personal Health Records (PHR)

An EHR and a PHR both contain information about your health, such as:

Contact information for your family members and health care providers
Diagnoses
Medications
Immunization dates
Allergies
Lab and test results
Family medical history

But with an EHR, your health care providers usually enter and access your information. With a PHR, on the other hand, patients like you usually set up and access the information.

Electronic Prescribing

Electronic prescribing, or e-Prescribing, is when your doctor enters information about drugs you may need into a computer. This electronic prescription is sent over a secure network to the pharmacy you choose. The pharmacy receives the prescription and can begin filling it right away.

Benefits of e-Prescribing

E-Prescribing is free.
Drugs may be cheaper. When your doctor uses an e-Prescription, the computer may suggest alternative medications that may help you, but cost less.
Your doctor can see a list of all the medications you take. The computer program can warn him or her about possible drug allergies or bad drug interactions.
E-Prescribing complies with laws about who can see your medical information. You decide who has permission to know what medications you take.
Medical mistakes sometimes happen when a pharmacist cannot read the handwriting on a prescription. Using a computer will make a prescription easier to read and will reduce mistakes.
An e-Prescription goes directly to the pharmacy, so you do not need to drop it off and wait while it is filled.
Your doctor can enter your insurance information into the e-Prescription system. This will make it easier for the doctor to prescribe a drug that is covered by your insurance.

G-1.2 What is Health IT?

Keyword Target:basics of health information technology, health information technology basics, overview of health information technology, overview of health it, basic health information technology

Meta Description: Want to know the basics of health information technology? Here’s an overview of health information technology and its’ tools.

Title Tag: Overview of Health IT

Content:

An Overview of Health IT

Today, health and medical information is mostly kept on paper, in files and file cabinets. And for the most part, health care providers don’t share that information with each other.

But like so many other industries, health care is going digital.

Health information technology, or health IT, is the use of computer hardware and software to privately and securely store, retrieve, and share patient health and medical information.

Health IT has the potential to help health care providers:

Communicate more easily with other providers involved in the care of their patients
Make better decisions about the care their patients receive

But health IT also has the potential to help patients—patients like you.

If providers communicate better with one another and make better decisions, you receive better care.

Health IT Tools

Health IT includes:

Tools for doctors, other health care professionals, and hospitals
Tools for patients
Networks that link all of these tools together

There are several kinds of health IT tools. They include:

Electronic health records
Personal health records
Telehealth or telemedicine
Online communities
Electronic messaging (e-mails and text messaging)

All of these tools, when used meaningfully together, can make health care better, safer, and more convenient for everyone.

G-1.3 Why Adopt Health IT?

Keyword Target:health information technology benefits, advantages of electronic health records, benefits of ehrs,

Meta Description: Why adopt health it? There are many advantages of electronic health records (EHRs) and reasons to adopt health information technology.

Title Tag: Advantages of Electronic Health Records

Content:

There are many good reasons for you—and your health care providers—to use health information technology (health IT).

Electronic health records (EHRS) make it possible for your health care providers to better manage your care through secure use and sharing of health information.

Benefits of EHRs for Patient Care

With the help of EHRs, your health care providers can have:

Accurate and complete information about your health. That way your providers can give you the best possible care, whether during a routine office visit or in a medical emergency.
The ability to better coordinate the care they give to you and your family. With EHRs, your providers can communicate more easily with each other. This is especially important if you or a loved one has a serious medical condition.
A way to securely share information with you electronically.This means that you can have better access to your health information. You can take part more fully in decisions about your health and the health of your family.
Information to help diagnose your health problems sooner, avoid medical errors, and provide safer care at lower costs.

Benefits of EHRs for the Nation’s Health

Use of EHRscan also build a healthier future for our nation.

Public health professionals can look at the information in EHRs and see patterns in the data. While the professionals will be able to look at the data, your identity will be protected.

They might be able to:

Find new cures for diseases
Reduce gaps in health
Identify and respond quickly to public health emergencies, such as disease outbreaks

For example, if EHRs show that more and more Americans are getting a disease, then there might be a public health problem. Steps can be taken to prevent or manage a problem—like catching flu early, before it spreads.

With EHRs, we have the chance to learn more about our health and health care system, and the chance to apply those lessons to improve care.

G-1.4 What the Government Is Doing

Keyword Target:health information technology programs

Meta Description: Government health information technology programs. Find out how government is changing health care with health information technology.

Title Tag: Health Information Technology Programs

Content:

Our nation’s health care system is changing. Health IT is a big part of that change. Health IT can increase your access to your health information, and it can help support patient-centered care.

Through a variety of programs, the Government is working to empower people with health IT, so that they can improve their own health, as well as the health of the country. In 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was signed into law to support those goals. The HITECH Act is a historic opportunity to improve American health care delivery and patient care through an unprecedented investment in health IT.Government Programs

Most health care providers still use paper charts for their patients’ medical records. But thanks to HITECH and new government programs, providers nationwide are making the switch to electronic health records (EHRS).

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is the main government agency in charge of promoting health IT and the electronic exchange of health information across the country.

ONC has several programs to help our health care system use EHRs.

Sixty-two Regional Extension Centers (RECs), located in every region of the country, are helping providers adopt and meaningfully use EHRs.
The Beacon Community Program has funded 17 communities to build and strengthen their health information technology infrastructure, improve health outcomes, care quality, and cost efficiencies, and spearhead innovation to achieve better health and health care.
The Health IT Workforce Development Program trains thousands of people for careers in health IT so that they can help providers implement EHRs.
The State Health Information Exchange (HIE) Program funds states’ efforts to quickly increase connectivity and enable the secure flow of patient information across the health care system—within and across states.
The SHARP Program supports the discovery of “breakthrough” research findings that will accelerate the nationwide use of health IT.

These ONC-funded HITECH programswill help make it possible for providers to achieve meaningful use and for Americans to benefit from EHRs as part of a modernized, interconnected, and vastly improved system of care delivery.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

In addition to ONC-provided leadership and technical assistance, financial support is available to help health care professionals and hospitals make the switch from paper charts to EHRs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides incentive payments to eligible health care providers who are successful in becoming "meaningful users" of certified EHR technology through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces:

The HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information
The HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information
The confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protects the way your health information is used.

Partnerships and Initiatives

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Resource Center for Health ITworks to improve health care decision-making, support patient-centered care, and improve the quality and safety of medication management by awarding health IT contracts and grants to communities, providers, and health care systems.
Text4babyis a free mobile information service that provides pregnant women and new moms with information they need to take care of their health and give their babies the best possible start in life. Women who sign up for the service receive free text messages each week, timed to their due date or baby’s date of birth. Text4baby is made possible through a broad, public-private partnership that includes government, corporations, academic institutions, professional associations, tribal agencies, and non-profit organizations.
The Blue Button Initiative, announced by President Obama in August 2010, allows veterans to download their personal health information from their My HealtheVet account. The information can be printed, or saved on computers or portable devices. Veterans can then share this information with their health care providers, caregivers, or other people they trust.
The Federal Communications Commissionis working to ensure that all Americans have affordable access to robust and reliable broadband products and services. Broadband is essential to the effective and widespread use of health IT, including EHRs.

G-1.5 Meaningful Use of Health IT

Keyword Target:meaningful use of health it, meaningful use of ehr, meaningful use of health information technology

Meta Description: What is meaningful use of health it? The meaningful use of health it is critical to the use of electronic health records (EHRs).

Title Tag: Meaningful Use of Health IT

Content:

Electronic health records (EHRs) and other forms of health IT hold great promise for improving health care.

But having an EHR is not the same thing as using an EHR. An EHR must be used in a meaningful way to reap the potential rewards of EHRs.

This is why the government is helping your health care providers to achieve “meaningful use” of EHRs.

“Meaningful use” is the use of EHRs by health care providers in ways that make care better, more efficient, and safer.

What Providers Are Doing

To achieve meaningful use, your providers are working hard to meet specific objectives when they use EHRs.

For example, they are striving to:

Keep your health and medical information private and secure
Maintain an up-to-date list of your health problems or diagnoses, medications, and allergies
Record and chart changes in your vital signs (e.g., height, weight, blood pressure)
Order your prescriptions from their computers
Make sure that the drugs they prescribe for you won’t interact with each other
Offer you an electronic copy of your health information
Provide you with a summary of your office visit
Share your health information with another of your providers, if you allow it

Many of these objectives, when met, will make your care better, safer, or more convenient for your providers and for you.

G-2.1 Benefits of Health IT

Keyword Target:patient benefits of ehr, ehr benefits for patients, benefits of health information technology for health care,

Meta Description: Want to know more about EHR benefits for patients? Here are the patient benefits of electronic health records.

Title Tag: EHR Benefits for Patients

Content:

In recent years, technology has changed the way we live our lives. It’s shaped the way we get information, communicate with each other, do our jobs, and see our world.

And now, technology is changing the way we manage our health.

New technologies have unlocked a wealth of new possibilities. New devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems have been developed to address hard-to-solve health problems. Technology has the potential to help doctors catch diseases earlier and treat them more effectively—saving more lives, and improving the health of more people.

Health IT—which includes electronic health records, or EHRS—is one of the ways that technology can help to improve your health.

EHR Benefits for Patients

An electronic health record is not just a computerized version of your paper chart. It’s a digital record of your health information that can provide your care team with detailed health information about you. The same privacy and security standards that protect your paper record apply to your EHR. And EHRs offer additional security measures, like passwords and digital fingerprints, to safeguard your information.

EHR benefits for patients can include better quality care and more convenient care.

With the help of electronic health records, your health care providers may have:

More accurate and complete information about your health. This information will enable them to give you the best possible care, during a routine visit or a medical emergency.
The ability to better coordinate the care they give to you and your family. This is especially important if you or a loved one has a serious medical condition, or if you are helping to care for a family member.
A way to securely share information with you electronically. This means you can more fully take part in decisions about your health and the health of your family.
Information at their fingertips, helping them to diagnose your health problems sooner, reduce medical errors, and provide safer care at lower costs.

Learn more about how EHRs can improve the quality of your health care <<link to “G-2.2>>

Learn more about how EHRs can improve the convenience of your health care <<link to G-2.3>>

Learn more about how EHRs have the potential to improve access to affordable health care <<link to G-2.5>>

G-2.2 Better Quality Care

Keyword Target:quality health care, health care quality

Meta Description: Looking for quality health care? Health information technology will increase health care quality and here is how.

Title Tag: Quality Health Care

Content:

Better Information. Better Care

Electronic health records (EHRs) give your doctor more accurate and complete information about your health, which can lead to better quality health care for you and your family.

Better Safety

EHRs can track information about your medications so that health care providers don’t give you another medicine that might be harmful to you.
EHRs can improve health care quality by reducing human error. With electronic reminders, EHRs can help doctors and nurses avoid mistakes.
EHRs can be available in an emergency. If you are in an accident and are unable to explain your health history, a hospital that has an electronic health record system may be able to talk to provide your doctor with important information about your health, such as health concerns, current medications, and past lab work so that decisions about your emergency care are faster and better informed.
With a more complete understanding of your history and health, your doctor can diagnose health problems earlier and suggest preventative care measures.

Better Control

You can fully take part in decisions about your health and those whom you are caring for. As use of electronic health records increases, you may be able to receive electronic copies of your medical records and share your health information securely over the Internet with your family.

Better Public Health

Electronic health information exchange improves tracking of public health trends such as flu outbreaks and gaps in health care.

G-2.3 Greater Convenience

Keyword Target:health care made easy, convenient health care, health care made simple,

Meta Description: Health care made easy with electronic health records (EHRs). Here is how electronic health records will provide convenient health care.

Title Tag: Health Care Made Easy

Content:

Health Care Made Easy

Electronic health records (EHRs) can improve not only the quality, but also the convenience and coordination of your health care.

More Convenient

You may be able to have your prescriptions ordered and ready even before you leave the doctor’s office.
Insurance forms can be filed automatically.
EHRs can alert providers to contact you when it is time for certain screening tests or check-ups.
EHRs can support better follow-up care. After you visit a health care provider, for example, EHRs can provide updates and reminders for you.
EHR systems are backed up like most computer systems, so if you are in an area affected by a natural disaster your health information can be retrieved.

More Coordinated

When doctors, pharmacies, labs, and other members of your health care team are able to share information, you may no longer have to fill out all the same forms over and over again, wait for paper records to be passed to another health care provider, or retrieve your records from multiple locations..
EHRs can make it easier and faster for your doctor to track your test results and share progress with you.
If your doctors’ systems can share information, one doctor may be able to see that a test has already been performed, which means it doesn’t have to be repeated. With x-rays and certain lab tests, this means you are at less risk from radiation and other side effects. When unnecessary tests are avoided, it can also mean a decrease in the costs you incur.

More Complete

With EHRs, providers can have more accurate and complete information about their patients, enabling them to provide the best possible care. Providers will know more about you and your health history before you walk into the exam room. That means you can spend less time giving your doctor background information, and more time taking care of yourself and your family.

G-2.4 More Patient Involvement

Keyword Target:my electronic health record, involvement in health information technology, involvement in health it, involvement in your health care

Meta Description: Increase your involvement in your health care with electronic health records (EHRs) and improve your quality of care. Here is how you can get involved.

Title Tag: Involvement in Your Health Care.

Content:

Putting the I In Health IT

Heath IT has many benefits- convenience, coordination, efficiency. But by far, the greatest benefit of Health IT is the ability to improve patient care. Your care.

Health IT puts you at the center of your own health care. It creates a larger and more seamless flow of information, organized around you, wherever you may be.

And Health IT gives you power over your own health information. It lets you take control of your health, and the health of your loved ones. Health IT lets you be the most important member of your health care team.

Electronic Health Records and Your Care

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can increase your involvement in your health care and make it easy for your doctor to:

Give you better care.With EHRs, health providers can give you full and accurate information about all of their medical evaluations. Doctors can also provide follow-up information after an office visit or hospital stay, such as self-care instructions, reminders for other follow-up care, and links to Web resources.
Communicate Better.With EHRs, doctors can often manage appointment schedules electronically and exchange e-mail with you. During your appointment, your doctor may be able to show you test results electronically or verify that she’s sending your prescription to the right pharmacy.

Having a way to easily communicate can help you and your doctor identify treatable symptoms early and avoid unnecessary complications.

Talking to Your Doctor About Health IT

More and more doctors are making the transition form paper records to EHRs. As EHRs become more common, it makes sense to talk to your doctor about Health IT.

Here are some questions that you can ask your doctor to get the conversation started:

Do you use EHRS, or are you considering transitioning to EHRs?
Do you use e-prescribing?
Do you communicate with your patients through e-mail?
If you use an EHR, is there an associated personal health record?

Personal Health Records

A personal health record, or PHR, is an electronic application through which patients can maintain and manage their health information (and that of others for whom they are authorized) in a private, secure, and confidential environment.

A PHR is one way that you can increase your involvement in your health care. PHRs are collections of information pertinent to your health, but they differ from EHRs in that they are typically set up and accessed by patients themselves.

With standalone or independent PHRs, you fill in the information yourself and the data is stored on your computer or on the Internet.
Tethered or connected PHRsare linked to a specific health care organization’s EHR system or to a health plan’s information system. You access the information through a secure portal.

Other Ways to Manage Your Health Online

Join an online community related to a particular health topic.
Use health “apps” if you have a smart phone. There are thousands to choose from—look for those that meet your individual needs and interests.
Use remote monitoring devices—like a wireless pedometer—to track your health and share information with your provider.
Sign up for a program that provides text reminders to help you better manage your health.

G-2.5 Wider Access to Affordable Health Care

Keyword Target:affordable health care, access to health care, accessible health care,

Meta Description: Looking for affordable health care? Here’s how health information technology has the potential to make health care more accessible and affordable.

Title Tag: Affordable Health Care and Accessible Health Care

Content:

Health information technology (Health IT) has the potential to make health care more accessible and more affordable for more people.

Widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRS) and other health IT applications can:

Reduce costs
Increase efficiency
Provide a way to go to give the right care to the right patient at the right time

Better Access, More Affordable Health Care

Without Health IT, doctors and hospitals are often limited by the resources they have on hand.

Especially in rural or economically disadvantaged areas—which often have less access to Health IT and other technology—this can mean that people have less access to cutting-edge tests and treatments, or that they have to travel a great distance to receive the specialized care they need.

Health IT can bridge these gaps, providing more accessible health care and more affordable health care.

Rural or small health care centers can connect with larger facilities. For example, a health care facility may be able to forward test results to another facility for diagnosis, or consult with a specialist about a patient’s care.
Remote access to records, tests, and results can save travel time and costs for both practitioners and patients.
More complete patient records and greater connectivity mean that providers can avoid repeating tests already performed by another doctor, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs.
Professionals can take advantage of continuing education not available in their area, including presentations by specialists.

G-3.1 Protecting your Privacy and Security

Keyword Target:patient privacy, maintaining patient privacy, protect your health information, your health information privacy

Meta Description: How does Health IT impact your health information privacy? Protect your health information by keeping informed.

Title Tag: Protect Your Health Information

Content:

Protecting Your Privacy. Protecting Your Health.

Health information privacy and security is a top priority for health care professionals as well as for the government. Agencies like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have invested significant resources to protect your health information. The protection of your privacy and identity depends on a combination of legal protections and operational safeguards, as well as personal steps that you can take to strengthen security.

Legal Protections(box)

Federally enforced rules define the standards of responsibility for health care organizations that handle your health information.

<<See all legal Protections (link to G-3.2)>>

What you can do(box)

You can take personal measures to protect your health information and ensure others who have access to it do their part.

<<More about your role (link to G-3.3)>>

Technical Safeguards(box)

Privacy and security rules establish standards for the management, access, storing, and transmission or exchange of your health information.

<<See all safeguards (link to G-3.4)>>

What you need to know about HIPAA

To ensure your health and medical information is private and protected, a

law, called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

(HIPAA), was put into place that sets rules about who can look at, receive,

and use your health information. The HIPAA Privacy Rule ensures that you

have rights over your own health information and when it can be shared.

Common questions about your rights and protections under the law are

answered below. You can, at any time, ask your doctor or health insurer

questions about how your health information is used or shared and about

your rights. <<Learn more about HIPAA (link to G-2.3) >>

G-3.2 Legal Protections

Keyword Target:laws on electronic health records, laws on health information technologies, your health information privacy rights

Meta Description: Want to know more about the laws on electronic health records? Get informed about your health information privacy rights.

Title Tag: Your Health Information Privacy Rights

Content:

Privacy, Security, and EHRs

As more and more health care providers use electronic health records (EHRs), they are working with other doctors, hospitals, and health care plans to find ways to share your information in secure ways.

You should know that:

Information in your records can only be shared for purposes authorized by you, or by Federal law
The same patient privacy laws that already protect your individually identifiable health information also apply to information in EHRs
Your privacy rights do not change whether your information is stored as a paper record or stored in an electronic form
EHRs offer additional security featuresto safeguard your information, which can make them more secure than paper records.

Get more information about security features that protect EHRS<<G-3.4)>>

Your Health Information Privacy Rights

Who can look at, receive, and use my health information?

To make sure that your health information is protected in a way that does not interfere with your health care, your information can be used and shared:

For your treatment and care coordination. For example, your doctors can see what tests you have had and the results so they don’t always have to repeat them.
With doctors and hospitals that provide you care so they can be paid for their services.
With your family, relatives, friends, or others you identify who are involved with your health care or your health care bills, unless you object. For example, an emergency room doctor may discuss your treatment in front of your friend when you ask that your friend come into the treatment room.
For your safety, to make sure doctors give good care and nursing homes are clean and safe.
When protecting the public’s health, such as to report when the flu is in your area.
With the police to make certain required reports.

Your health information cannot be used or shared without your written permission except under certain, limited circumstances allowed by law. For example, without your permission, your provider generally cannot give your information to your employer, share your information for marketing or advertising purposes, or share private notes about your mental health counseling sessions.

Who must follow this law?

Most individuals or groups involved in your health care must follow the law. That

includes:

Most doctors, nurses, pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, psychologists, dentists, and other health care providers.
Health insurance companies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and employer group health plans.
Certain government programs that pay for health care, such as Medicare and Medicaid.