The acronym PHR might mean something to a health care provider, depending on the historical experiences that he or she has in their practice especially as it relates to EHR. Namely this is because most EHR companies are encouraging providers to give their patients FREE and SECURE access to discrete elements of the data contained within the patients’ records in the EHR. This online “portal” to information is called a Personal Health Record, or PHR. Did you know about PHRs before you read this?
In pockets of the country, health systems have decided to utilize a common type of EHR product for hospitals and clinic facilities that are within a given system. This means that patients who are seen by any number of specialists or primary care physicians or at any of the facilities within that health system will have access to pieces of their EHR data stream available within a PHR. Many EHR companies provide their doctor-customers with a co-developed PHR for their patients, while some patients are left to explore the internet for their own PHR products.
With the increased use of EHR technology, we will see an increase in PHR technology. But, will patients have a compelling reason to use PHRs? That all depends on how clearly the providers spell out the value propositions to the patients. If the patient can actually take action in a PHR, like document their pre-examination interview/case history, or schedule and reschedule appointments, or message the clinic staff or doctor securely, PHRs will become mainstream in just a few years.
For more information about PHRs from the Blue Cross/Blue Shield perspective, read here:
http://www.bcbs.com/healthcare-partners/personal-health-records/clinicians-phi-faq.html
To see a press release about PHRs from an alliance of health care organizations, read here:
