Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are now a vital part in improving our healthcare system.
By 2015 we will see a large shift in electronic charting due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Once medical practices have a paperless office- what’s next? Personal Health Records.
Right now PHRs are not the most important topic of conversation. However, PHRs will emerge soon. Individuals will want to have the capability of reviewing, authorizing and managing their own health records. This means, you are in control of your health documents. With a PHR you can keep any type of medical information, such as prescriptions, doctor visits, emergency information, etc.
There are three different ways that you can store your personal health record: hard drive, online subscription services, or free online PHR services.
With a hard drive, you are able to secure all of your health records on a thumb drive and carry it around at all times. In this instance, you must develop your own records. The only disadvantage with this method is medical identity theft.
Online subscription services are services that you pay a monthly fee for to input your information in a system that has already been designed to store your medical information. Since it is stored online, you have the ability to easily retrieve your information.
Free online PHR services are the same thing as an online subscription service; however, you do not need to pay the monthly fee.
Start doing your research on PHRs. Within the next few years we will begin to hear about them more often.
Tags: ehr, emr, personal health records, PHR
3 Comments
ICMCC News Page » EHRs Now, PHRs Soon? - Aug 17, 2009
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lw - Aug 17, 2009
I think PHRs are important and something people should consider. With more and more people seeing multiple doctors, having one centralized place with all of you and your family’s information is valuable, especially when you need quick access. And especially while most docs are still not using EHRs. I use Microsoft HealthVault, which is a free online PHR provider. It also offers a lot of very useful applications, such as the ability to monitor and track blood pressure, and works with some peak flow meters, so you can track asthma as well. I like it but there are others. Something to give thought to.
Mary Mazza, DO - Aug 18, 2009
As a practicing ER physician working nights and weekends, I know first hand how important personal health records would be for my patients and to my practice. We should all be carrying around our personal health records (PHR) just like we do our drivers’ licenses and this is possible right now. Tired of waiting for someone else to solve this problem, I started my own company. Please check out mymedicalmemory.org for a simple, user friendly, secure solution that will serve us all. Your health records are safe and secure, read only by those to whom you give permission, protected by biometrics (your fingerprint) as well as password. You can update them yourself and/or your physician can update; the information saved is identified as “patient entered” or “physician entered.” Medications, allergies, past medical and surgical history, demographics, living will…all with you wherever you go. The technology is here and available. Similar to systems used in Europe but with security at the level demanded by the federal government, the M3 Medical Card is the future and the future in NOW!