title: Patient Access to Personal Health Information: Regulation vs. Reality.
abstract: Patient-centered healthcare initiatives are underway to enable patients to take more responsibility for their healthcare. To do so, patients must be able to access, utilize, and share their health information. Access to health information through patient portals and other electronic means is increasing with the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), but not all providers have EHRs or patient portals and not all information may be available electronically. Patients are expected to continue to request paper and electronic copies of their medical records. This research project was initiated to obtain up-to-date data regarding health information management (HIM) practices related to patients' access to their health information.
authors.affiliation: Kim Murphy-Abdouch, MPH, RHIA, FACHE, is a clinical assistant professor and clinical coordinator in the Health Information Management Department at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murphy-Abdouch
mesh_terms: D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020408:Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D033283:Patient Access to Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States
keywords: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA); Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA); electronic health record (EHR); meaningful use; patient portal