Emis Health has introduced new technology allowing a patient to digitally share their medical record with chosen clinicians.
‘Share your record’ is part of Emis’ Patient Access online service. It allows patients to share a view-only snapshot of their record from a desktop or handheld device, via a secure URL or QR code and 4 digit access code.
Access will be for 24 hours and the patient can choose how much or how little information to share, using multiple sharing profiles for different people.
The system uses 256-bit encryption and patients will have an audit trail of date/time & IP address details of views of their shared record.
Emis Group chief medical officer Dr Shaun O’Hanlon said the new technology will better enable information sharing across health and social care by putting patients in control.
“GPs, with an ethical and legal duty to safeguard patient confidentiality, have always insisted on rigorous agreements for data sharing. Share Your Record helps both patients and clinicians by putting the power in patients’ hands, with patient-initiated consent,” he said.
Dr Geoff Shrecker, executive partner at the Gleadless Medical Centre in Sheffield, said the new functionality will involve GPs investing some time to ensure that patients understand their record, but he argues that this will be amply repaid
“Share Your Record is a significant move forward in giving patients control of their information. Not only does it give them an opportunity to share that info with the clinician that they choose, it also means they don’t have to rely on their memory during consultations,” he said.