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Why it’s important…and how to access, manage, and
protect it
The Purpose
Your personal health information
is a valuable resource to you, your family, and the
doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals
who provide your treatment and care. But did you
know that, in most cases, a complete record of all
of your personal health information cannot be found
in any single location or consistent format? The
various elements of any one person's health
information are likely scattered across several
healthcare providers, possibly in different cities,
states, or even countries and are kept in various
combinations of paper-based and electronic
record-keeping formats.
Each one of your
healthcare providers (family practitioner,
allergist, OB-GYN, etc.) compiles a separate medical
record on you. These multiple medical records can
lead to an incomplete story about your health.
Keeping your own PHR allows you to provide doctors
with valuable information that can help improve the
quality of care you receive. A PHR can help reduce
or eliminate duplicate tests and allow you to
receive faster, safer treatment and care in an
emergency. And the PHR empowers you, the patient.
Overall, it gives you more intimate knowledge of
your health information allowing you to play a more
active role in your preventive care and care
management.
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The Web Site
As part of this public
education campaign, AHIMA has also created a free
public web site,
www.myphr.com, where you can find a wide range
of helpful information and resources including:
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Information
regarding your health information rights
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Privacy
rights and common privacy myths
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How to
access your records
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Information
for caregivers
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Step-by-step
guide for creating a PHR
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A guided tour to
help you learn more about how your health
information is collected, where it goes, and how
it’s used.
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An online form
to request a local health information management
professional to come out and deliver a free
public education seminar to your group or
organization.
*AHIMA does not make, sell or endorse any PHR
products. We provide this database as a public
service and encourage people to research the
different types of tools that are available and
choose the one that is right for them. Many of the
tools listed in this database are free of charge.
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