Interoperability

Interoperability allows health information systems to work together within and across organizations. This ability will support effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities. It requires insurance companies to provide patient health information — things like claims, clinical information, and pharmacy and provider directories — in an electronic format that can be shared.

Interoperability allows members access to their health information on a mobile device or other electronic devices in a secure way for personal use.

You are in control of your health information. You will have the ability to authorize the release of your data to a specified application (an app) designed for a mobile device of your choice so that you can view your data. Keep in mind, these apps are not owned and operated by Maryland Physicians Care. The Maryland Physicians Care website will have a link, which will allow an app to access an Application Programming Interface (API) in order to get to your information.

Health information is a private matter. You should be careful to choose apps with strong privacy and security standards to protect your information. Maryland Physicians Care has provided some questions, guidelines and suggestions for what members should consider when authorizing an app to access their information.

It is important for you to take an active role in protecting your health information. You should look for an easy-to-read privacy policy that clearly explains how the app will use your data. If an app does not have a privacy policy, you may not want to use the app.
You should consider:

• What health data will this app collect? Will this app collect non-health data from my device, such as my location?
• Will my data be stored in a de-identified or anonymized form?
• How will this app use my data?
• Will this app disclose my data to third parties?
  • Will this app sell my data for any reason, such as advertising or research?
  • Will this app share my data for any reason? If so, with whom? For what purpose?
• How can I limit this app’s use and disclosure of my data?
• What security measures does this app use to protect my data?
• What impact could sharing my data with this app have on others, such as my family members?
• How can I access my data and correct inaccuracies in data retrieved by this app?
• Does this app have a process for collecting and responding to user complaints?
• If I no longer want to use this app, or if I no longer want this app to have access to my health information, how do I terminate the app’s access to my data?
• What is the app’s policy for deleting my data once I terminate access? Do I have to do more than just delete the app from my device?
• How does this app inform users of changes that could affect its privacy practices?

If the app’s privacy policy does not clearly answer these questions, you should reconsider using the app to access your health information. Health information is very sensitive information, and you should be careful to choose apps with strong privacy and security standards to protect it.

Here is a list of applications. Please visit “What to keep in mind when choosing an App” above, for more details.

For Third-Party Developers interested in connecting to Maryland Physicians Care’s Interoperability APIs, please click here for more information.