WASHINGTON--In a joint initiative announced Wednesday, America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which together represent companies that insure more than 200 million people, said their customers could soon have access to extensive information about their personal medical histories.

A new Web-based personal health record model the insurers have developed contains a customer's insurance claims, medications, immunizations and other health information. The PHR will be portable from health insurer to health insurer.

PHRs are distinct from electronic health records in that they don't contain as much detailed clinical information. However, Robert M. Kolodner, MD, interim national coordinator for health information technology at HHS, noted that the model PHR is "a step forward in the national health IT agenda."

Some experts believe the widespread adoption of such health technology could reduce preventable errors, increase treatment compliance and help lower health care costs.

Particularly for those with chronic diseases, proponents say, PHRs would let patients and authorized family members or caregivers--who often must play a daily role in managing their health care--add information such as data from home medical tests, information about medications and family medical histories.

About 70 million people currently have PHRs through health insurers, the associations said, with millions more scheduled for the service in 2007. PHRs should be available to most of their customers by the end of 2008, according to the groups.

Earlier this month, five major corporations including Wal-Mart and BP said they were funding the development of an Internet-based network called "Dossia" that will store the lifelong health records of more than 2.5 million people starting next year (see HomeCare Monday, Dec. 11).

And according to Kolodner, in 2007 HHS will support trials for the planned Nationwide Health Information Network with both state and local health information exchanges that are being developed by four consortia health and health IT organizations.