Dear Maria,
Thank you for your interest in HealthFrame.
1. As stated in our Privacy Policy (http://www.recordsforliving.com/Company/privacypolicy.aspx), Records For Living does not store any customer's health information. By giving you access to and complete control of your medical records we hope that you will save your encrypted/password-protected records in multiple locations (e.g. CD, USB drive, iPod, network drive, etc).
Giving you control of your medical records allows YOU to make the choices that you feel comfortable will protect your privacy and access.
HealthFrame supports Sending and Receiving (File / Send PHR... and File / Receive PHR...) your personal health records to secure Internet sites, using a Continuity of Care Record (industry standard) protocol known as CXP. An example of such service is provide for instance by MedCommons (http://www.medcommons.net). Also, note that you can encrypt your backed up file (password protect your PHR) and save them in Internet-accessible drives such as the "Google drive" (http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm).
You can also import and export your health records (XML or encrypted, password-protected backup files) and store and/or exchange them as you'd like.
In a nutshell, YOU control your medical records and who you share it with.
2. That depends on your doctor's office. Unfortunately, few doctors in the United States have access to patient electronic health records (fewer than ~ 20%). Your best bet to keep your records updated is to request your doctor's office to provide you with a copy - do so periodically - with every visit.
Some doctor's offices are equipped with electronic health records and you can request electronic copies. HealthFrame supports storing electronic attachments (e.g. PDF files, image files, scanned documents, etc), as well as importing (and merging) medical record content stored using industry standards (ASTM Continuity of Care Record - CCR).
Additionally, you should make sure that you are comfortable with the quality of reporting of your personal health record (HealthFrame has a number of customizable built-in reports as well as the ability to expand dynamically with plug-ins - please see for instance this post in our Community Forum: http://community.recordsforliving.com/forums/thread/538.aspx).
You should also know that if your doctor would like to view your medical records directly on their computer, we freely distribute HealthFrame Viewer (www.healthframeviewer.com). This dramatically improves your ability to exchange information with your doctors and specialists.
Finally, you should check on the quality of customer support. We are very proud of our commitment to our customers.
Please let us know whether we help you further in your research.
Support Team