To the Editor In a Viewpoint in a recent issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, Jaspers et al¹ note that HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) requires “covered entities” (physician offices, hospitals, and health plans) to provide patients with a complete electronic copy of their medical record if the health care provider has their medical record in electronic form, which today almost all health care providers do. Furthermore, HIPAA mandates that an individual has a right to direct the covered entity to transmit the protected health information about the individual directly to another person or entity designated by the individual. For 10 years, the nonprofit Health Record Banking Alliance² has been advocating for a consumer-controlled, unified, lifetime electronic health record. The model envisions that, after each visit, the health care provider sends a copy of the visit information to the patient’s medical record depository.^3,4 The next health care provider can then turn to exactly one place for a consolidated medical record for the patient. The consumer can permit their medical record to be viewed by health care providers, family members, and even medical researchers if they so choose. Such a record bank promotes consumer engagement in their care, error correction, and data for population health management and research. Use of health record banks would avoid the need for patients to request either electronic or hardcopy versions of their records when moving or changing physicians.

要编辑在近期的问题上观点JAMA内科，雅斯贝尔斯等人¹注意，HIPAA（1996年健康保险流通与责任法案）要求“涉及的实体”（医生办公室，医院和健康计划）为患者提供如果医疗保健提供者拥有其电子形式的医疗记录，则可以提供其医疗记录的完整电子副本，而如今几乎所有医疗保健提供者都可以这样做。此外，HIPAA要求个人有权指示受保实体将个人的受保护健康信息直接发送给该人指定的另一个人或实体。十年来，非营利组织健康记录银行联盟²一直在倡导消费者控制，统一的终生电子健康记录。该模型设想，每次访问后，医疗保健提供者会将访问信息的副本发送到患者的病历库。^{3 ，4}然后，下一位医疗保健提供者可以准确地转到一个地方，以获取患者的综合病历。如果愿意，消费者可以允许医疗保健提供者，家庭成员甚至医学研究人员查看他们的病历。这样的记录库可促进消费者参与其护理，纠错以及用于人口健康管理和研究的数据。使用健康记录库将避免患者在移动或更换医生时要求电子或硬拷贝记录。