Patient requests for EHR data on their apps causing concerns

Editor's Note

Physicians are trying to adapt privacy concerns and requirements to meet patient requests that electronic health record (EHR) data be sent to their mobile apps, including fitness trackers, according to a report in the July 7 Healthcare IT News.

Meaningful use and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) rules require physicians to give patients a standard summary, including laboratory results, medication list, and patient history, but some apps are looking for more specific data and data from other providers the patient has seen.

The question is, are physicians and patients really benefiting from the data or is it just adding to a physician’s overhead? Small physician practices may have staff download the data while the patient is with the physician. Large practices might have to get an IT person involved.

Each patient request for data having to be sent to different apps can become a problem most practices can’t manage, even if they are part of a big organization, the report notes.

Meaningful use and more recently the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) rules call for doctors to enable patients to view, download and transmit their electronic health record data. And some patients are beginning to inquire about adding that information to various healthcare apps that range from blood pressure monitoring to fitness trackers to glucose reading software for diabetes, among others.