The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) final ruling on consumer notification of electronic health information security breaches will make individuals more receptive to using a personal health record (PHR). Or will it matter?

The rule affects PHR vendors and companies that provide applications for PHRs, which are not under the jurisdiction of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The FTC must be notified of all breaches, and the media must be informed of breaches involving 500 or more people.

It's a rule that should make PHR vendors and third-party application providers extra vigilant about ensuring that their products and connections have no security gaps. Some would say, however, that in the private markets your business would take a serious hit if personal health information fell into the wrong hands. Therefore, companies wouldn't really need such a ruling to address security issues. If a security breach made the headlines, it would likely deter even more people from getting a PHR.

I'm interested in knowing how PHR vendors and third-party application providers feel about the ruling. And I'm even more interested to know what consumers think about the ruling. Will it matter to you? Will you feel safer and be more inclined to create a PHR for yourself?

My feeling is, you're either comfortable with it or not, ruling or no ruling. If you find value in it, you'll create a PHR - and if your PHR information gets uploaded to an electronic health record or electronic medical record to create a comprehensive record, even better.