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Insurers: Progress made on health records

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- The private sector is moving ahead with personal health records, U.S. insurers told congressional staffers Monday.

It makes sense for health insurance companies to work on personal health records, said Alissa Fox, vice president of legislative and regulatory policy at the BlueCross BlueShield Association.

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"It is a natural extension of what we already do," she said at a briefing sponsored by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's Center for Health Transformation.

Large insurers, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, are working together to create personal health records, electronic health records meant to be used by consumers, said Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry group.

Many plans already offer personal health record options to beneficiaries, she said, but the industry is working on records that are based on universal standards, transportable, customer-friendly and secure.

Insurers can "knit together" claims data and health information supplied by patients, Ignagni said.

As the quality of records progresses, the next step is to make them popular with customers, said Archelle Georgiou, executive vice president of UnitedHealth Group.

"At the end of the day, the patient needs to perceive their healthcare is better because of (personal health records.)"

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