Aetna's Personal Health Record Now Portable

HARTFORD, Conn., Nov 03, 2008 (A. M. Best via COMTEX) -- AET | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Starting this month, members of Aetna Inc. with a personal health record provided by the health insurer will be able to transfer the medical information contained in that record to an online account offered by software giant Microsoft Corp.

With the move, Aetna's PHR becomes portable, meaning if members switch health insurers or jobs, they can take the record with them.

Currently, Aetna's PHR is available to about 6 million of its members. Through a partnership with Microsoft, its members will be able to log into their PHR and transfer the information to HealthVault, a secure, Web-based platform that Microsoft launched in October 2007. There a member can store, access and share information in their PHR, such as medical claims data, laboratory test results and prescription drugs, with health care providers and others.

The initiative isn't a pilot program or a test of a limited subset of the company's membership, said Dan Greden, head of e-health product management for Aetna (NYSE: AET). The company will continue to roll out and grow the program this year, he said. The Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna has about 17.7 million medical members in the United States.

Doctors, hospitals and other providers will have access to an Aetna member's PHR only if the member allows them to, Greden said. The member has complete control over who sees their record, he said.

Health insurers partnering with technology companies on PHRs is expected to continue because tech companies can provide portability and interoperability ? features most health insurers can't offer on their own, experts said.

Earlier this year, Kaiser Permanente said it was working with Microsoft on a pilot program to give patients more control over their personal health information by connecting its PHR to HealthVault, while Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts became the first health insurer to partner with Google Health, launched in May (BestWire, June 13, 2008).

Greden said Aetna's PHR is prepopulated with a variety of health information gathered from physicians, laboratories and pharmacies. Claims submissions by doctors, for example, can be explicit about a member's particular visit, such as annual physical with cardiac stress test, Greden said.

Aetna, though, translates those details into "plain-speak" so members don't see complex claim codes in their PHRs. That's helpful if members share their PHR with other physicians, Greden said. "It's the best way for their providers to see a holistic view about what's going on with the patient," he said. "Is it perfect? No. But is it the most effective thing we have available to us today? Yes."

An Aetna member also can enter information, such as family health history or allergies, into their PHR.

The industry views PHRs as a way to improve patient health care by reducing medical mistakes and slashing administrative paperwork and costs.

Kaiser Permanente is seen as a leader in PHRs. As an integrated HMO, its health plan, doctors and hospitals are under one roof, making interoperability "a little easier for them because they own the provider network" according to Carlton Doty, a senior analyst with Forrester Research, a technology and marketing research firm (BestWire, July 7, 2008). The PHR means nothing to consumers, he said, unless all of their health care providers can access it, he said.

Interoperability is in the early stages for the industry, Greden acknowledged. For example, physicians aren't able to enter data directly into a patient's PHR, "but we will be looking at ways to enhance the PHR and this may be something we consider," he said.

Aetna is working with America's Health Insurance Plans and others concerning the flow of health data in and out of PHRs, Greden said.

(By Fran Matso Lysiak, senior associate editor, BestWeek: fran.lysiak@ambest.com)

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index