What is a personal health record?
Person health record (PHR) refers to an Internet based set of tools that allow people to access and coordinate their lifelong health information, and makes it available to those who need it. (Al-Ubaydli, 2011, p13). It is a consumer-centered approach to making comprehensive electronic health records present at any care point while effectively providing care for the patients’ privacy (Egges and Overmas, 2010, p. 95).
How are these developed and put onto a computer system?
A PHR computer system consists of a data repository that stores PHR data on a cloud data storage system which relies on a number of data centers; and a portal which allows patient access information. Depending on vendors, portal categories may include social networking, health management, financial services and decision support among others (Egges and Overmas, 2010, p. 95). There is no standard way to develop PHR model. However, a desired one can be developed using the following steps:
- Identity the community health concerns and integrate them as key navigators PHR.
- Install common PHR details based on literature including patient demographics, allergic reactions, hereditary diseases, chronic diseases, immunization records, blood type and other procedures.
- Develop and apply specific/Desired field self assessment test. (Citl, et al, 2008, p. 113).
How is data secured and accessed?
Security is well checked by Most of PHR computer system. Physician should also keep patients information secure.
Everyone has the right to view/access their health records. This can be achieved copies of records, or request a summary of the information. Always one should ask and complete the authorization form, which is returned to the facility. For any errors or omission, request for amendment from the organization offering the facility. (Al-Ubaydli, 2011, p. 2)
What types of regulations are applicable to these types of systems?
There are many existing and proposed procedures and applications that regulate the numerous PHR computer systems. These regulations include accurate and a timely diagnosis, security, network synchronization, documentation and medical equipment and authentication (Egges and Overmas, 1998). To avoid incompatibilities across computer systems during transfer of data, open standards are used. For example, Health Level Seven (HL7) is a consensus standard for electronic data exchange in healthcare.
It defines standard formats for sending or receiving data on patient admission, lab results, invoicing, referral, registration and other orders. This makes communication between different departments smooth. Other adopted regulations are: DICOM defines messages for encoding and exchanging medical images, X12 that sets standards for exchanging consents, transfers or invoicing records. CorbaMED provides universal object models for several inter-operating systems.
What are the advantages?
The benefits of using HPR computer systems are: improves doctor-patient relationship via decision support, communications, and documentation. Usually, HPR is comprehensive, carrying patients lifespan medical and treatment history that can be used in case of retrospective analysis or be used as a baseline for certain medication. More so, HPR makes all the information to be available/accessible whenever necessary thus reducing delays and any other inconveniences.
Other benefits include the ability to back up, print and store in various mass storage devices such as DVDs and flash disk. (Lewis et al 2005). Improved quality care in that it reduces medical error and improved legibility for analysts to perform. Since automated technology are used, Operational cost is reduced through freeing up time and money.
What are the disadvantages?
Lack of a standard HRP computer system model, thus different institution use incompatible means of receiving, processing, storing and distribution of data. This practice impedes sharing of data across different applications and institutions. Computers can be prone to physical loss and damage and the data that it contains. (Citl et al, 2008, p. 113).
Insecurity and privacy questions may arise in that there is a greater probability that portions of personal record could be downloaded or altered by the institution to suit their data. The resultant is impersonation and other medical – related theft in case of institutions such as insurance companies. Lastly, most of the doctors are reluctant to embrace this program claiming it is too costly in terms of money and time.
What key questions should this person ask of an IT vendor?
Ensure the PHR vendor he/she opts for is willing to sign a comprehensive business associate agreement; also, confirm that the vendor is audited to comply with the guidelines of HIPAA. In addition, he/she should determine whether the vendor remotely hosts an application via cloud computing and provides a way for a client to retrieve their health information in case the company goes out of business One should also question the degree of privacy i.e. steps taken to dispose all paper work when entering data into the computer.
How is the PHR computer system of benefit to public health?
Through PHRs, public health can monitor outbreaks, research, and Disease epidemiology. They can contribute towards supporting and enhancing the health of the public through seminars, sharing of individual experience, and management of certain health conditions. More so, it is immediate retrieval of patients’ information causing a leading edge in networking technologies and mobile communication.
Explain the challenges to the adoption on PHR and how to overcome them?
The contentious issue of how patients are uniquely identified could impede the design choices and desire for a similarly distributed system of records. Therefore, acceptable procedures for storing and backing up data to prevent loss in case of tragedies and disasters should be developed.
An agreement whether emergency overrides patients policy should be reached. More so, the possibilities of retracting information that has been given to auditors should be put into consideration. Measures to take to sanction policy violators should also be considered.
What is the Difference between PHR and EHR?
A personal health record is a consumer – centered approach to making comprehensive electronic health, providing accessibility to them when required and are stored with high security to individual’s privacy (Egges and Overmas, 2010, p. 95). An electronic health record (EHR) is a sprouting model of an organized gathering of medical information concerning patients and the general population.
Conclusion
The essay has provided answers to a number of questions. This include defining a personal health record and how it’s developed into a computer system. Data security and accessibility has also been highlighted. There are regulations that govern personal health records in electronic form. Using computerized health records has both advantages and disadvantages.
There are questions that an IT vendor should be asked. Computerized personal health records are also beneficial to the public health. How to uniquely identify patients is one of the main challenges and there’s a difference between a personal health record and an electronic health record.
References
Al-Ubaydli, M. (2011)-Personal Health Records: A Guide for Clinicians. Blackwell publishers: West Sussex.
Citl, et al (2008). The value of Personal Health Record books.google.com. Center for Information Technology Leadership (CITL), Healthcare Information and Management System Society (HIMS).
Egges, A. and Overmas, M. (1998). Lecture notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, London: Springer.
Lewis et al (2005). Consumer health informatics: informing consumers and improving health care. New York: Springer.