Why & How The Cloud for PNR

Where Are Your Essential Estate and Health Documents?

 

Why-And How-to Use The Internet to Store And Provide Access to Your Medical Records And Estate Planning Documents

 

If you are gravely ill and in the hospital or become mentally incapacitated-or when you die-where will fiduciaries find your estate planning wishes and documents? 

If you’ve stored them in traditional ways-in a safe deposit box or in your home, and distributed signed paper copies to your attorney and family-it could take hours or days for your fiduciaries to access them.

But if you’ve also used an Internet technology- “the cloud”-to store your essential documents, your fiduciaries could get the information they need in seconds, using a secure web page. They could be at your home, in another state, or traveling in another country. All they need do is click and log in.

 

What is “the cloud”? And why would you want to store your documents there? The cloud is an online service, the same technology that enables the storage of business documents, Facebook pages, and YouTube videos. The cloud stores your important documents as digitized files inside computers (servers) in secure off-site locations (data centers). Your files could be anywhere around the globe, hence “the cloud” nomenclature.

You-and any persons and businesses that you have designated-can access your documents that are in the cloud immediately, at any time, from anywhere there is an Internet connection. If you’ve stored your estate documents in the cloud, your fiduciaries can easily access them whenever they need them.

 

The following four pages outline some issues to consider if you are thinking about using the cloud for your estate documents-or for your personal medical records.

Estate Documents

Before Storing Your Estate Documents in The Cloud: Issues to Consider

Organizing your estate documents can help your fiduciaries better and more promptly represent you, pay your bills and required taxes, and settle your estate. It can avoid confusion, and help your heirs quickly receive their benefits. If the efficiency and sharing advantages of storing your estate documents in the cloud are important to you, here are some issues to consider when selecting a cloud storage service:

What is the reputation and viability of the service? Find a company with a good history of keeping its clients’ accounts and data available and secure. Also look at its financial stability; cloud storage services must spend a lot of money on security and reliability. Determine what will happen to your records if there are system problems or the company stops providing the service.

How safe are my documents? Documents can be safe in the cloud. Evaluate the security and reliability of the storage service, and know its limitations before you upload.

Security measures to look for include the data center’s physical security, employee security policies, data encryption, and the processes for user authentication and authorization of file access. Because data can be subject to government search and seizure, consider which country or local entity may have jurisdiction over the cloud storage service and its servers.

System reliability measures to look for include redundancy techniques and the service’s record of system availability and recovery from system incidents.

What types of documents will (or can) you store? Estate documents that could be appropriate for you to organize and upload are listed on Page 5.

To whom can you designate access, to which documents? Also, what is the process to be used for allowing or revoking access?

How easy and convenient is the service to use? Research user reviews of the service. Ideally, test the service yourself by uploading several of your non-confidential documents, updating them, having others access them, and deleting them.

What is the cost? Most cloud storage services are low-cost subscriptions.

Some examples of cloud storage services for estate planning documents:

The DocSafe https://www.thedocsafe.com/

DocuBank SAFE https://www.docubank.com/

Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/

Safely Filed https://safelyfiled.com/home/personal_about

 

Health Records

 

If your next trip to a hospital is an emergency-and you’re alone, out of town, or unconscious-how quickly will the treatment team know your relevant medical history, current medicines and allergies, and Advanced Healthcare Directive?

Typically, your health records reside with a variety of doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and other providers. And the records are in various formats-paper records, x-rays, scans, lab results, and electronic medical records (EMRs) or electronic health records (EHRs).

What is a Personal Health Record (PHR)? And why would you want one? A PHR is like an EMR/EHR that doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers maintain on an individual patient. Here are the big differences: A PHR allows the individual to centralize the records from multiple providers, personalize information, control who has access to it, and provide immediate access.

A PHR lets you organize and maintain your own centralized record, make it more complete, and share information in it with anyone. Keep in mind that the value of your PHR depends on your taking responsibility for entering, tracking, and understanding the health information.

Advantages of having a PHR in the cloud include quick access-from anywhere there’s an Internet connection-for you, other individuals that you designate (such as family members and caregivers), and any institutions that you designate (such as hospitals and nursing homes). If these advantages are important to you, consider the following when selecting a PHR cloud service.

 
Before Establishing Your Personal Health Record in the Cloud:
Some Issues to Consider

What is the reputation and viability of the service? Find a company with a good history of keeping its clients’ accounts and data available and secure. Also look at its financial stability; cloud services must spend a lot of money on security and reliability. Determine what will happen to your records if there are system problems or the company stops providing the service.

How safe are my documents? Digital health information commands high prices on the black market. Evaluate the security and reliability of the PHR service, and know its limitations before you upload.

Security measures to look for include the PHR service’s data center security, employee security
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policies, data encryption, and processes for user authentication and authorization of file access. Because data can be subject to government search and seizure, consider which country or local entity may have jurisdiction over the PHR service and its servers.

System reliability measures to look for include redundancy techniques and the service’s record of system availability (uptime) and recovery from system incidents.

An additional consideration: the HIPAA federal privacy and security rules do not apply to the records maintained by some PHR vendors.

What types of documents will (or can) you include? Health documents that could be appropriate for you to have in your PHR are listed on Page 5.

What other healthcare systems, applications, and devices does the PHR interoperate with? Interoperability means that data systems can exchange information, and use the information received. Look into whether the PHR service interoperates with the other systems important to you-such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the VA, your EMR/EHR accounts, your home-monitoring medical devices, even your smartphone’s health apps. Also learn what information from these systems can be transferred automatically into your PHR, and how.

To whom can you designate access, to which information? And what computer or smartphone operating systems must they use for access? Also, what is the process for allowing or revoking access?

How easy and convenient is the service to use? Research user reviews of the PHR service, especially experiences in compiling, adding and deleting, managing, and sharing PHR information. Ideally, test the service yourself by uploading several of your non-confidential records, updating them, having others access them, and deleting them.

What is the cost? Most PHR cloud services are free or low-cost subscriptions.

Additional general information on PHRs:
U.S. government: http://www.healthit.gov/patients-families/maintain-your-medical-record
American Health Info. Management Assoc.: http://myphr.com/HealthLiteracy/understanding.aspx

Some examples of PHR services:

iBlueButton Microsoft HealthVault MyMediConnect NoMoreClipboard WebMD Health Manager

http://www.ibluebutton.com https://www.healthvault.com/us/en https://www.mymediconnect.net/ http://www.nomoreclipboard.com/ http://www.webmd.com/phr

 

A List of Estate Information That You Could Organize and Share

Financial Power of Attorney
Advanced Healthcare Directive
Revocable Living Trust
Last Will and Testament, including your desires for funeral arrangements; copies of previous versions of the will
List of contacts (e.g., your doctors, attorney, accountant, insurance agent, banker; friends and family; the people who should be notified of your death)
Insurance policies
Bank accounts
Safe deposit box: location, list of contents, and the location of keys
Proof of identity and relationships (e.g., social security card; certificates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce; prenuptial agreements; divorce settlements)
List and location of items in other locked or hidden places
Investment, annuity, pension, and retirement accounts, as well as the associated beneficiary documents
Titles and deeds to real estate, vehicles, and other property
Mortgages and other loans
List of service providers (e.g., utilities, gardener) and other ongoing expenses 
Credit card information
Recent income tax returns, W-2 forms, 1099 forms
Family history, and the locations of photographs and heirlooms
List of digital assets and passwords (e.g., email and social media accounts)

 

A List of Health Information That You Could Organize and Share

Emergency contacts
Advanced Health Directive and Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)
Insurance
Medications (prescription and nonprescription)
Chronic diseases, illnesses, immunizations, allergies, vision and dental records
Hospitalizations and surgeries
Data from home-monitoring medical devices (e.g., glucometers and blood pressure monitors)
Lab and test results; x-rays, mammograms, scans, and other images
Family history
Other information you want to track (e.g., weight, diet, exercise, or appointments)
You may also want to organize the health information on everyone in your family

Carol A. Neelley, P.C. does not endorse any technology, product, or service discussed or named in this document, nor is it responsible for the content that is found through the links listed in this document.