New Rules Could Ease People's Access to Their Own Health Records

The Trump administration is proposing steps aimed at improving individuals' access to their own health data, strengthening efforts to bring information such as insurance claims, hospital, and doctor records to digital devices like smartphones, reports the Wall Street Journal . Federal health regulators have introduced two major regulations touching on various issues, including technology standards that are supposed to help unlock digital data stored in the electronic health records used by hospitals and doctors to track medical care. The current hospital practice is to provide online portals for consumers, but these often lack important content, while hospitals and doctors sometimes charge for access to records. The federal proposals call for health insurers to offer government-supported plans like Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act exchange coverage to open up new digital pathways to claims data for consumers, including information on costs of services. U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma says she will encourage insurers to provide the same service in employer plans, which may need to be mandated by legislation if employers are reluctant.