The Personal Medical File is born
Now that the personal pharmaceutical file has proven its efficiency, it is time for the personal medical file to be launched nationwide. Editors, hosts and health services alike are now ready to provide the people with this revolutionary new tool in patient management.
Former Health minister Roselyne Bachelot announced its creation back in July 2010; now, the PMF (personal medical file) is a reality. Enabled by the law from August 13, 2004, it constitutes a revolution for the French healthcare system. No longer will you need to carry that old, half-filled medical log when visiting the doctor and no longer will you experience problems for involuntarily leaving it at home.
Now, all patient data is centralized and accessible from any workstation connected to the Web. Each file is created at the patient’s request and it will follow him for the duration of his life, allowing “the grouping and sharing of relevant data between health care professionals and facilities in order to better coordinate their efforts”, as stated by the CNIL (National Commission of Information and Liberties).
That said, the PMF will not replace the document issued by your physician, but rather accelerate the processes of data search and daily physical consultations. Since it is created at the patient’s request, it can also be suppressed at the patient’s request. It will then “be archived for ten years, then deleted permanently”, adds the CNIL.
Total interoperability, with no compromise in terms of security
In order for PMFs to be accessible and readable by all, every IT system in place will need to comply to the interoperability parameters defined by ASIP Santé (Agency for Shared Information Systems, Health division) on December 13th. Consequently, several editors, such as Cegedim, Axilog and Imagine Editions, have already obtained official homologations. Hundreds of other editors are expected to do the same in the following weeks.
As for hosting, ASIP has retained 15 beneficiaries: 2CSI, AAtlantide, Atos Worldline, CARESTREAM, CEGEDIM, Cerner, CIS Valley, EMOSIST-FC, Extelia, GRITA, H2AD, IDS, Orange Business Services, Le Syndicat inter-hospitalier de Bretagne and Santéos. All of them will need to comply with the security requirements imposed by the CNIL. Any given PMF will be accessible both to medical specialists and to the patient himself via a national health identifier. Physicians will be required to produce their professional card in order to gain access and every single consultation or modification to the file will automatically be saved in the system in order to quickly retrace them. To prevent hackers from accessing sensible data, the latter will systematically encrypted.
On January 5th, the ASIP will provide more information on this innovative medical tool by launching an introductory website, dmp.gouv.fr.
Don’t stay behind, embrace the future!
