Electronic Health Records: An Audit and Internal Control Guide

CHAPTER 9

Healthcare Portfolio

Everything changes, nothing remains without change.

—BUDDHA (563 B.C.–483 B.C.), FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM

A portfolio is a portable case containing loose files and papers. A healthcare portfolio contains a file of patient health information or a personal health record. Market offerings for individual personal healthcare record systems are rapidly emerging. They vary in scope, format, structure, and delivery. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has initiated its own pilot of a personal health record for Medicare beneficiaries:

In June 2007, CMS initiated a new pilot project to encourage Medicare beneficiaries to take advantage of Internet-based tools to track their health care services and provide them with other resources to better communicate with their providers. The project is expected to run for eighteen months and will enable certain beneficiaries to access and use a Personal Health Record (PHR) provided through participating health plans, and accessible through www.Mymedicare.gov. CMS will collect data to assess the use, usability, and feature preferences of the tools.¹

In addition, CMS has released the following comments regarding PHRs:

The Personal Health Record (PHR) is an adjunct tool related to the provider based electronic medical record. In its ideal form, it would be a lifelong resource of health information used by individuals ...