A method for providing a consumer with the ability to access and collect personal health records associated with the consumer in a secure and private manner is provided. The method includes assigning a toll-free phone number individually associated with and dedicated to the consumer for private fax and voice communications from a health care provider, associating access information with the consumer for the consumer to use to access a secure web site, receiving a private fax communication comprising a personal health record associated with the consumer for which the consumer has requested and given permission to the health care provider to send to the toll-free number, converting the private fax communications into an image file format, storing the health record encoded in the image file format, and providing the consumer with secure access to the web site using the access information and providing on the web site an interface to the health records of the consumer for the consumer to access the health record.
