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Medicare to Test PHRs in S. Carolina
May 7, 2008
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is seeking Medicare beneficiaries in South Carolina to participate in a pilot program to assess the benefits of using personal health records.
Medicare will populate the PHRs with claims data, such as medical conditions, hospitalizations and doctor visits. Beneficiaries will be encouraged to enter additional information and share the data with providers.
Prescription drug information, even for individuals with Medicare Part D coverage, will not be automatically entered into the PHR, but individuals can enter their own prescription and over-the-counter medications. CMS presently interprets the Medicare Modernization Act as prohibiting the sharing of Part D data, according to a CMS spokeserson. "We understand that a final rule is pending that will enable us to populate a PHR with Part D data at the beneficiaries' request," the spokesperson says. "We definitely believe that drug data will increase the usefulness of a PHR, but unfortunately, we are limited by the law at this time."
Under a different pilot program launched last year with seven health plans, CMS is testing the use of PHRs for beneficiaries enrolled in the Part D program.
CMS believes encouraging Medicare beneficiaries to use PHRs will enable them to be more involved in their health care. One of the goals of the South Carolina pilot program is to help the agency understand how to educate beneficiaries on the use of PHRs to encourage more widespread adoption, says CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems.
The PHR, from Centennial, Colo.-based Health Trio LLC, will include access to medical reference information. Palmetto GBA, a Columbia, S.C.-based Medicare contractor, will supply the medical claims data.
The pilot program will last for 12 months. CMS then will decide whether to push further for PHR adoption in Medicare. Beneficiaries in South Carolina can enroll in the pilot at myphrsc.com.
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