Beginning in January, Utah will become one of two states in the country to participate in a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) personal health record pilot program.

Unlike electronic health records, which are controlled and used by health care providers, personal health records are managed by patients. Allergies, medications, lab results - all can be entered by the patient and then shared with their family members or physicians.

Depending on which program beneficiaries choose, they also may be able to link to their pharmacy data, or to tools that help them track their diet and exercise or detect potential dangerous medication interactions.

The idea is to give beneficiaries more control over their health information, but in a way that protects their privacy and is portable when they need treatment, said CMS spokesman Mike Fierberg. Health care providers, meanwhile, will ideally save time collecting the data and, with it, make fewer medical errors.

Personal health records are "an incremental step to making health care more efficient and more effective," he said.

And toward making people healthier, said Teresa Rivera, assistant executive director of the Utah Health Information Network, which is building a statewide electronic health records network.

"You're tracking all kinds of symptoms and issues before they evolve into something that is very chronic and hard to manage," she said.

Utahns will have several commercial programs to choose from - which will be free for at least the duration of the pilot program - and they'll include up to two years of their claims information from Medicare's database, Fierberg said.

Signing up for the pilot program may be as easy as logging on to Mymedicare.gov, the site where beneficiaries can access their personalized benefits and services information, though such details have yet to be released.

Noridian Administrative Services, the company that processes Utah and Arizona Medicare claims, issued a request for proposals last week and will contract with one or more companies to offer the programs, Fierberg said. Proposals are due by Sept. 8.

Such tools are gaining in popularity. Google Health, for instance, allows a person to organize their information online - if their own health insurance plan doesn't already offer something similar.

Utah's SelectHealth, for instance, offers members a tool that connects them to resources such as WebMD and their claims information. Last year it was updated to include additional information, such as lab and imaging results.

"It seems to be growing and expanding quite a bit," said SelectHealth spokesman Jason Burgess. "It's helping our members be in charge of their health care and help them make wise choices."

lrosetta@sltrib.com

How it will work

* Starting in January, Utahns on Medicare can sign up for a personal health record tool that will help manage medical information and make it portable.

* It will be free for at least the pilot period.

* Medicare will download up to two years of beneficiaries' claims data.

* Beneficiaries will be able to add their own information.