Watchdog group releases personal health record privacy report card

The watchdog group Patient Privacy Rights (PPR) has released its first personal health record (PHR) privacy report card in an effort to educate and protect consumers. The report card assesses five PHRs.

"The good news is, there are companies that offer meaningful ways to control your private information," Ashley Katz, PPR's executive director, said in a prepared statement. "The bad news is, other companies do not allow patients to control their PHRs. That is a scary thing when you consider that PHRs can store sensitive health information as well as lifestyle habits such as what you eat, how much you drink, and how often you exercise. All PHRs claim to be 'patient-centric' and claim that 'privacy is important,' but it's simply not true."

PPR based its findings on policies, websites, and applications, and makes no recommendations on specific PHRs, although it does assign letter grades to PHRs and platforms that incorporate PHRs.