MMR Global, a provider of personal health records (PHRs) and healthcare electronic document management and imaging systems, today announced that it received another Notice of Allowance (NOA) to protect the company’s HER technology.

The NOA protects the company’s legal claim that any “web-based portal used for consumer access to personal health information covered by the patent constitutes an infringement of the company's intellectual property, unless it is provided or licensed by the company,” according to a statement.

The company said it is trying to get out in front of the Meaningful Use requirement that will allow patients to have online access to their protected health information through a PHR or other form of patient portal by 2014, and guard its own intellectual property in terms of EMRs and PHRs to prevent “vendors from allowing patients access to personal health information without a license from MMR.”

By 2014, all medical organizations need to prove they have achieved meaningful use of electronic health records to meet certain objectives.

"Since 2005, MMR has been building a personal health record that seamlessly connects to any doctor or hospital regardless of the systems in the office, be it plain paper or the most advanced electronic medical records systems,” said Robert H. Lorsch, MMRGlobal chairman and CEO, in the statement.

Adding, “This overriding patent will help protect the integrity of our products and raise the bar for PHRs while also making it extremely difficult to comply with certain Meaningful Use requirements under the HITECH Act without a license from MMR for the company's IP.”

"The MMR health IT Patent Portfolio means that anyone who provides a consumer with a Web-based portal, including hospitals, physicians and pharmacies, where the consumer can access personal health information may be infringing on MMR's IP,” added Ted Ward of Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor LLP, which represents the company as patent litigation counsel.