For patients, accessing health information was not possible in the past but thanks to the internet as it is providing 24/7 access. Tools were found for common people to use advanced technologies; educate and use the support system to understand health information.

The government has created appropriate laws to control these technologies to not harm people’s privacy when they regularly use them. HIPAA helps patients to save sensitive data in Personal Health Records Software.

Consumers are given a patient portal to add, view and research their records in an authorized space. In research, patients with sickle cell disease were given Personal Health Records Software on their smartphones because they are far distant from healthcare organizations for regular check-ups. This became a responsible step and found patient satisfaction levels and medication outcomes are improved.

Personal Health Records (PHR) Software is a lifelong resource for people to track health conditions. Patients can manage health-related information in the smartphone, assisted with healthcare providers support.

HIPAA

Personal Health Records Software always has a HIPAA certificate and it stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which is a federal law enacted by the United States to protect patient health information. Even for clinical decisions, patient approval is required to disclose their information.

HIPAA has three rules for protecting the information

1. The Privacy Rule: It foretells what kinds of organizations are eligible for HIPAA and individual patient rights over protected health information. Healthcare includes its plans, associated clearinghouses, and allows de-identifiedhealth information for research purposes.
2. The Security Rule: It sets the standards for protecting PHI in electronic format and gives clear guidelines; what health information, what safeguards measures are placed to give confidence, training employees based on the compliance and periodical risk analysis for integrity.
3. The Breach Notification Rule: Usage of PHI usage without following the Privacy rule is called a breach. Once PHI is breached, the alerts must be sent in the next 60 days to affected individuals and Health and Human Services.

Patient Portal

Patient portals are online applications designed for patients to interact with healthcare providers and general practitioners. It is available on the Internet so the patient can access it at any hour of the day and night. Patient portals are integrated with EMR/EHR Software to update live information.

Benefits

Patients said they had peace of mind when accessing health records immediately was possible on their own. They can understand whether they are in good condition or not and do they need any further consultation. This makes them engaged and well interacting with doctors.

• Programmed to send medication reminders on time
• Easy communication in health vocabulary language
• The audit trail is a series of activities recorded with each procedure and event
• Information source is pinned for evidence
• The individual decision for information incorporation

Conclusion: Personal Health Records Software is a tool to develop caregiver engagement and ensure critical success in the process. From 2008, 19^th June is considered as World Sickle Cell Day to raise awareness of sickle cell disease.

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Source : https://personalhealthrecords75.blogspot.com/2021/06/hipaa-helps-patients-to-save-sensitive.html