Personal Health Records

Personal Health Records

• Personal health records (PHR):

– Availability and utility increasing

• Important for patients and consumers

• Combine data and empower patients

– Electronic health records (EHR) have been adopted by

clinical professionals

– PHR still face barriers to adoption

PHR advantages

• Help empower people in their own care

– Provide vital data to healthcare practitioners

• Repository for patient information

• Allow for decision making capabilities

• Centralizes storage and retrieval of patient data

How to create a PHR

• PHRs differ from EHRs

– Used by individuals to monitor health information

• Kept with individual patient

• Accessed by patients to confirm health history

– EHRs are used by clinicians

• Kept at secured locations

• Accessed only by members of the health care team

Barriers to the PHR

• Each person responsible for maintaining the accuracy of patient

information

– Patients need to understand medical words and lingo

– May not be advisable to include written patient records as they may

be poorly understood

• Security needs to be addressed

• Possibly threaten the autonomy of physicians in health care

• All stakeholders need to be involved in development

Outlook for the PHR

• Many leading authorities have supported the use

and maintenance of PHR

• Education may clear barriers to adoption

• Patient-provider relationships may change rapidly

• Study is needed to evaluate barriers to

implementation

References• Gearon, C. (2007) Perspectives on the Future of Personal Health Records. California HealthCare

Foundation. 2-5. • Heinold, J. (2009) PHR Consumer Guide. PHR_GuideforConsumers.pdf. • Tang P. (2005) "The missing link: bridging the patient-provider health information gap". Health Affairs. 24

(5): 1290–5. • Tang, P. (2006)

"Personal Health Records: Definitions, Benefits, and Strategies for Overcoming Barriers to Adoption". JAMIA 13: 121–126.