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Request access for a third-party application

Security Health Plan members have a right under the federal law known as HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to access their health information and to oversee their own healthcare. Security Health Plan’s members also have a right to know their health information is exchanged in a way that ensures their privacy and security. Health care providers, health plans and health information technology  developers and vendors all play roles in ensuring that Security Health Plan members have secure, convenient access to their health information. Security Health Plan strives to protect its members’ data and help members make informed decisions about sharing their health information with third parties.

If you are a member of Security Health Plan and would like to grant access of your health information to a third party application, but the application you wish to use does not have access to Security Health Plan’s records, you can request we contact the application on your behalf. Security Health Plan will work with the application developer or vendor to connect with that application using a Patient Access Application Programming Interface (API).
To get started call our Customer Service team or click here  and submit an electronic request. Under “What can we help you with” please choose “other.”

Phone numbers:

1-800-472-2363

TTY for hearing and speech impaired: 711

Customer service telephone hours

Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Interoperability & patient access rule

On May 1, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), issued a rule to improve secure, authorized access to health and insurance data.

CMS Fact Sheet
CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Rule

Sharing of this information empowers our members with access to their health and insurance information through the device or app they choice, allowing caregivers and insurance carriers to work together to best serve our member’s healthcare needs.

Connecting multiple health record sources

In spite of advances in health care technology, including electronic medical records, there is not an easy or readily available process to connect multiple health care organizations (i.e. doctors, hospitals, clinics, health insurers, and pharmacies.) These new measures will open doors for options to enable health information systems to work together to deliver health care information for patients that can help ensure effective delivery of the best and most affordable care.

Improving health care

5 key benefits of achieving interoperability (Becker’s Health IT) include:

How Security Health Plan is collaborating for interoperability

Security Health Plan is committed to ensuring interoperability links and the required data are available within the required application-programming interfaces, or API. Data within the APIs enables members to access their health data via a third-party application of their selection.

Know the rules about how your health information is shared

At Security Health Plan, your privacy is important to us and we value your trust. The Interoperability and Patient Access Rule was enacted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in May 2020. Security Health Plan must comply with the Interoperability and Patient Access Rule and it is important you understand what this is and how you can protect yourself and your information.

Under the Interoperability and Patient Access Rule, health insurance companies, as well as hospitals and clinics, must make your protected health information available to you through various third party applications, such as mobile apps on your smartphone or tablet. This rule requires the Health Plan to send your information to third party entities upon your request via an “Application Programming Interface” or API. At Security Health Plan that API is your My Security Health Plan account.

How does it work?

During the set up process of some third party applications (apps),  you may be asked where you would like the app to get your health information. If you identify Security Health Plan as the source, you will be directed to a login page, similar to the log in page of  your My Security Health Plan account. Using your My Security Health Plan login and password, you can choose to allow this third party application access to your information. If you have any dependents covered on your plan, the third party app will also gain access to their information when you grant the app access.

What you need to know

While we understand it can be helpful for you to have convenient access to your health information within the third party application, it is important you understand Security Health Plan cannot ensure your personal health information is safe and secure once they have access to it. Once you agree to use the API to transmit your information, you assume the risk involved by allowing us to share your personal health information with the third party app. Once your health information is transmitted to a third party app, it is no longer protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

HIPAA will not cover most third party apps. Most third party apps will instead fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the protections provided by the FTC Act. The FTC Act protects against deceptive acts (e.g., if an app shares personal data without permission, despite having a privacy policy that says it will not do so).

Security Health Plan must follow HIPAA regulations, while third party apps are not required to follow HIPAA regulations. This means your health information could be at risk. The only restrictions on an app’s use and disclosure of your protected health information are self-imposed, through the terms and conditions and privacy policies the app elects to adopt.

Security Health Plan is required to implement and maintain this API to permit third party apps to access your claims information. We must also include certain clinical data (such as lab tests). The rule does not require us to collect this data if we do not already have it, but we must provide any clinical data we do have through the API.

If you decide to grant a third party app access to your health information using a patient access API, you have the power to revoke that access at any time. To do so, simply log in to your My Security Health Plan account. Once logged in, click on “Authorized applications” on the left main menu. Then click the “Revoke consent” button by the listed application or applications you no longer want to receive your information.

Remember, if you do not consent to share your information with any third party apps, Security Health Plan will not share your information.

Educational resources

For more information about members’ rights to access their health records, how providers can use electronic health records (EHRs) to connect with their patients, how developers can help patients/members get their records easily, and other information regarding patient/member access to EHRs and their health outcomes, click here.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has issued additional resources on how to keep your health information private and secure:

Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information:

Integrating Privacy and Security into Your Practice
How to Keep Your Health Information Private and Secure
Guide to Privacy and Security of Electronic Health Information

What should members consider before authorizing a third party app to retrieve their health care data?

Take care when choosing which apps you share your health data with. Health data can be very sensitive. We do not control how third party apps use or share your health data. We do not review third party apps or their privacy and security standards for your health data.

We recommend choosing apps with strong privacy and security standards. Always read apps’ terms of use first. They should have a privacy policy that's  easy-to-read and find. This should tell you how they plan to use your data. Some apps may share your health data with other third parties. If they do not have a privacy policy, think again about using the app.

It is important for you to take an active role in protecting their health information. Helping members know what to look for when choosing an app can help members make more informed decisions. Members should look for an easy-to-read privacy policy that clearly explains how the app will use their data. If an app does not have a privacy policy, members should be advised not to use the app. Members should consider:

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

What should a member consider if they are part of an enrollment group?

Some members, particularly members who are covered by Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) on the Federally-facilitated exchange (FFE), may be part of an enrollment group where they share the same health plan as multiple members of their tax household. Often, the primary policy holder and other members, can access information for all members of an enrollment group unless a specific request is made to restrict access to member data. Members should be informed about how their data will be accessed and used if they are part of an enrollment group based on the enrollment group policies of their specific health plan in their specific state. Members who share a tax household but who do not want to share an enrollment group have the option of enrolling individual household members into separate enrollment groups, even while applying for Exchange coverage and financial assistance on the same application; however, this may result in higher premiums for the household and some members, (i.e. dependent minors, may not be able to enroll in all QHPs in a service area if enrolling in their own enrollment group) and in higher total out-of-pocket expenses if each member has to meet a separate annual limitation on cost sharing (i.e., maximum out-of-pocket).

To learn more about how Security Health Plan keeps your information private, please visit our Privacy page.

Reporting privacy or security issues or filing a compliant

If you think your personal health information has been breached, you may file a complaint with  Security Health Plan. You may also submit a complaint to The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). If you believe a third party application has used your data inappropriately (i.e., shares personal data without your permission), you may file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Payers should clearly explain to their members what their policy is for filing a complaint with their internal privacy office. In addition, payers should provide information about submitting a complaint to OCR or FTC, as appropriate.

Security Health Plan:
Call Security Health Plan’s privacy hotline number: 1-866-339-0289.
You may also refer to the Security Health Plan's Notice of Privacy Practices.

To learn more about filing a complaint with OCR under HIPAA.

Individuals can file a complaint with OCR.
Individuals can file a complaint with the FTC.

Prior authorization annual metric reporting

Federal regulations require health plans to publicly report certain information about prior authorization, including services that require prior authorization and summary data on prior authorization requests from the previous year.

View prior authorization reporting.