A strong case for personal health records

Regular readers of this blog know I am a skeptic when it comes to personal health records, but I guess I’m just a skeptic of the promises vendors are making. A story that aired on CNN Thursday tells how a patient found out he had cancer by reading his own medical records. His doctors completely missed it.

Click here to read the story or here for the video.

Consumer empowerment can be a wonderful thing. But the question remains, when will the masses take control of their own health information?

Interestingly, the reporter, Elizabeth Cohen, found her own medical records online at a site hosted by her health plan. She called the discovery a “big wow” for her. Yes, the information is out there, but how many people are really aware of this? And how secure are the records?