Access Your Health Data

Some members can tell Mercy Care¹ to share their health data with third-party apps on their smart phone, tablet, or other similar devices.

Following new federal rules² on sharing health data, Mercy Care has built a platform that apps can register with to access your health data at your direction. This will allow you to share health data³ with a third-party app.

Important Information

Before telling Mercy Care to share your health data with a third-party app, you should review our Patient Access API Member Educational Resources on Privacy and Security³

Authorize the Transmission of Your Data

Do you want to tell Mercy Care to share your health data with a third-party app?

Follow the steps below to share your health data with a third-party app:

Start by choosing a third-party app that you want to use to view your health data. If Mercy Care or your Mercy Care-affiliated health plan is listed within the app, you may be able to send your health data there⁴.
Begin the request in the third-party app. The app should send you to our website to authorize.
Use your member web portal username and password to log in.
Tap the “Review your request before allowing access” link to see important info about what you are asking Mercy Care to do.
Tap the “Allow Access” button if you want Mercy Care to share your health data with the third-party app.
When you are done, the app should have access to your health data from Mercy Care.

Managing Health Data Access

Do you want to see which third-party apps you sent your health data to? Do you want to revoke an app’s access?

Use your member web portal account to view the third-party apps that you have sent your health data to. You can also find the date that the app last accessed your health data.

Here is how you log in and view and/or remove access:

Log into your member web portal.
In the web portal, go to my profile. Select the Manage Data Access button
In the web portal, you will see the third-party app’s name and the date that the app last accessed your health data
Click on the “Remove Access” button to cancel your previous authorization. Removing a third-party app’s access to your health data here only stops it from receiving your health data from Mercy Care in the future. The app may still use the data you already shared.

General FAQs

What members can share health data with third-party apps?

This functionality is currently only available to members of health plans under certain government programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, and Qualified Health Plans on the Federally Facilitated Exchanges. Commercial health plans are not supported. You may use this platform to share data with third-party apps if you are a member of any of the following plans:

Aetna Better Health of California
Aetna Better Health of Illinois
Aetna Better Health of Florida
Aetna Better Health of Illinois
Aetna Better Health Premier Plan
Aetna Better Health of Kansas
Aetna Better Health of Kentucky
Aetna Better Health of Louisiana
Aetna Better Health of Maryland
Aetna Better Health of Michigan
Aetna Better Health of New Jersey
Aetna Assure Premier Plus - HMO D-SNP
Aetna Better Health of New York
Aetna Better Health of Ohio
Aetna Better Health of Pennsylvania
Aetna Better Health of Texas
Aetna Better Health of Virginia
Mercy Care (Arizona)
Aetna Better Health of Virginia
Aetna Better Health of Virginia – HMO SNP
Aetna Better Health of West Virginia
Aetna CVSHealth Federal Exchange
Aetna Medicare Advantage

How long will the third-party app have access to my data from Mercy Care?

The third-party app has a one-hour window to fetch your health data after you authorize.
If you wish to update your data in the app later on, you will be asked to authenticate with your username and password for your member web portal account.
You can revoke an app’s access to your data in the member web portal. Removing a third-party app’s access to your health data there only stops it from receiving your health data from Mercy Care in the future. The app may still use the data you already shared.

How long will the third-party app hold my data it receives from Mercy Care?

Mercy Care does not know or control how long an app may hold your health data that it receives from us. An app should explain in its privacy policy and/or terms of use how it will use your health data and its policy for deleting your data.
We recommend choosing apps with strong privacy and security standards. Once you send your health data to a third-party app, it is likely no longer protected by certain health privacy laws, such as HIPAA. Read our Patient Access API Member Educational Resources on Privacy and Security when deciding who to share your health data with.

How do third-party apps protect my data?

We don’t know or control how third-party apps protect your health data. We don’t review third-party apps or their privacy and security standards for your health data.
We recommend choosing apps with strong privacy and security standards. Read our Patient Access API Member Educational Resources on Privacy and Security when deciding who to share your health data with.

How should I choose whether to use a third-party app?

You control which apps you choose to share your data with. Read our Patient Access API Member Educational Resources on Privacy and Security when deciding who to share your health data with.

What types of health data will be shared?

If you tell Mercy Care to share your data with a third-party app, the app will have access to encounter, claims, and certain clinical data about you. This may include, but is not limited to, claim information, medications, procedures, lab tests, conditions, immunizations, and doctor visits.

How much of my data will be shared?

If you tell Mercy Care to share your data with a third-party app, the app will have access to your data from as far back as January 1, 2016 from relevant health plans.
The health data sent is not your complete medical history or a substitute for your full, official health records. The health data sent includes health data about you held by Mercy Care as your health plan under parts of certain government programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, or Qualified Health Plans on the Federally Facilitated Exchanges. The health data sent may not include data Mercy Care may have about you as a member of one of its commercial health plans.

Can I block only some sensitive data from going to a third-party app?

When you tell Mercy Care to share your health data with an app, we share all of your relevant claim, encounter, and clinical data.
We currently cannot limit app access to certain types of data, while sharing access to others.
If you do not want your sensitive data shared with an app, you should not authorize Mercy Care to share your data with that app at all.

How will a third-party app use my data?

Once you tell us to share your health data with a third-party app, we do not know or control how the app will use your data. We don’t review third-party apps or their privacy or security practices for your health data.
You should carefully read the app’s privacy policy and terms of use to understand how the app will use your data.

Will third-party apps share my data with others, such as marketing firms?

Once you tell us to share your health data with a third-party app, we do not know or control how that app may further share your data. We don’t review third-party apps or their privacy or security practices for your health data.
Some third-party apps may share your health data with other third parties.
You should carefully read the app’s privacy policy and terms of use to understand if and how the app may share your data with other third parties.

Do I have to use a third-party app to get my health information from Mercy Care?

No, you do not need to use a third-party app to access your health information. You can still use your member portal to access your health information. Please refer to your health plan’s Notice of Privacy Practices for more information about your rights regarding such information.

The data from Mercy Care displayed in the third-party app is not correct. What do I do?

If you believe the data Mercy Care has shared with a third-party app is not correct, please call the Member Services number on your ID card, or submit an inquiry to the address included on the Notice of Privacy Practices for your health plan.

I am having trouble authorizing a third-party app to receive my health data from Mercy Care. What should I do?

You will want to be sure that Mercy Care is listed as a data source option within the app. If not, the app may not have registered with our platform.
If Mercy Care is listed as a data source option in the app and you are unable to authorize, you should call the Member Services number on your ID card.

I need more information. Who can I talk to?

For questions about how a third-party app may use, share, or display your data, you should contact the app developer. For questions about how Mercy Care can share your data with a third-party app at your request, you should call the Member Services number on your ID card.

Mercy Care ‘and the pronouns ‘we,’ ‘us,’ or ‘our’ may refer to one or more of the Mercy Care group of subsidiary companies and their affiliates.
See the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule (CMS-9115-F
https://www.mercycareaz.org/involved/healthdata
This functionality is currently only available to members of health plans under certain government programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, and Qualified Health Plans on the Federally Facilitated Exchanges.
The health data shared may include information related to sensitive conditions such as chronic diseases, communicable diseases, substance use disorders (alcohol/drug), HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, genetic marker information, and other health data pertaining to behavioral health/mental health.