In the latest attempt to get consumers to embrace personal health records, health insurer Aetna is making its MyActiveHealth PHR portal with the mobile iTriage app.

According to Aetna, more than 4 million people have MyActiveHealth PHRs, offered through ActiveHealth Management, an independently run Aetna subsidiary that offers disease management and other health management services, including the Web-based PHR. Upwards of 7.5 million people have downloaded iTriage iOS or Android apps and/or registered for the companion website. iTriage, founded by Colorado emergency physicians Dr. Peter Hudson and Dr. Wayne Guerra, offers an automated symptom checker, a physician finder, appointment scheduling and other consumer conveniences.

The integration allows MyActiveHealth users to carry their health information with them to medical appointments and access data from their mobile phones. Though iTriage is publicly available, MyActiveHealth access is restricted to enrollees in ActiveHealth Management programs. ActiveHealth is offering the PHR to those who see providers that work with Aetna in Accountable Care Organization (ACO) efforts, according to Bruce Henderson, head of integrated solutions for Aetna's Emerging Businesses division.

While providers have not exactly embraced patients bringing in outside electronic data – among other things, "untethered" PHRs don't fit physician workflow – Henderson tells MobiHealthNews that Active Health is facilitating data sharing within the context of patient-centered medical homes. The integration also will give Aetna plan members another platform for contacting nurse practitioners in the context of the patient-centered medical home, he says.

iTriage, a service Aetna acquired last year, offers a symptom-checking service, and healthcare provider finder through a website and a mobile app for Apple and Android devices. It also provides estimated wait times for some hospital emergency departments.

Aetna acquired iTriage creator Healthagen late last year. Aetna executives said at the time that iTriage would central to the consumer engagement part of the health insurer's ACO strategy.