Modern technological development rapidly improved healthcare and treatment practices by making information use, gathering, and proceeding more convenient. For instance, the ability to include personal health record (PHR) application into a patient’s disease management allows analyzing their conditions in real-time and timely take preventative measures (Ball et al., 2011). Today, PHRs are utilized for helping people with chronic diseases and navigate consumers towards healthier lifestyle choices. Furthermore, such portals as FollowMyHealth provide the option for physicians and healthcare facilities to connect with their patients and timely address their need for medical intervention. This paper aims to discuss how individuals with FollowMyHealth benefit from having PHR in their healthcare toolkit and how it influences their conditions.
FollowMyHealth is a mobile-based application created for increasing patient engagement in the treatment process. The service’s main option is the secure real-time connection between clients and their physicians (FollowMyHealth, 2021). Besides, the portal includes access to all health records provided by the healthcare facility and filled by a client in journals and reports. Lastly, FollowMyHealth supports the notification system that reminds the users about their appointments or changes in their conditions (FollowMyHealth, 2021). The application works for ambulatory, acute, and post-acute care settings, and clients can maintain contact with their physician even after a discharge.
PHRs have a profound influence on health care delivery as they create the connection between patients and a facility making the former know that their health is under control and they can always receive medical assistance. Besides, the need to make records reporting the conditions makes individuals more responsible and forces them to assess if their choices cause harm or not (Wagner et al., 2010). FollowMyHealth is also beneficial for clinical practice as physicians can maintain a better relationship with their clients and apply the data retrieved from the application in their decision-making while adjusting the treatment. Based on the advantages of utilizing PHRs, mandating them for most patients and facilities is reasonable and suitable for healthcare nationwide.
Sharing health data with electronic devices becomes essential for the average consumer and makes them feel more secure. In the case of FollowMyHealth, all information is under the part of Meaningful Use 2, therefore it will not be shared anywhere outside of the eligible healthcare facility. Besides, the application allows a person to manage the range of data transmitted with the device and the options that can be used, such as location tracking (FollowMyHealth, 2021). Having PHRs as the tool to stay connected with a physician might motivate individuals to maintain it and fill in the records because they know it will influence healthcare provider’s decisions (Reti et al., 2010). The notifications and message features also encourage the clients to keep using a portal to stay in touch with their facility.
Although the benefits of such PHRs as FollowMyHealth are considerable, factors such as cybersecurity concerns or lack of knowledge of how to use digital applications might deter individuals from signing up for it. Data protection maintains a problematic issue with every service at risk, however, FollowMyHealth offers Terms and Privacy Policies where the guarantees regarding private data are provided (FollowMyHealth, 2021). Additionally, PHR includes educational videos and has strategies for nurses to help their patients learn to use the application correctly.
PHR’s are becoming more popular among healthcare facilities, and patients today are more willing to download and use an application that collects their health records. Although data security remains problematic, practices like data encryption or complex authentication will improve the protection. In the future, PHRs might influence professional practice by becoming a vital part of the healthcare system for planning appointments, registering insurance expenses, and providing physicians with a patient’s health record regardless of their location. It will positively impact patients’ health outcomes due to the more detailed information and observations registered.
References
Ball, M. J., Douglas, J. V., Hinton Walker, P., DuLong, D., Gugerty, B., Hannah, K. J., & Troseth, M. R. (Eds.) (2011). Nursing informatics: Where technology and caring meet (4th ed.). Springer-Verlag.
FollowMyHealth. (2021). Patient Engagement Platform. Web.
Reti, S. R., Feldman, H. J., Ross, S. E., & Safran, C. (2010). Improving personal health records for patient-centered care. Journal of The American Medical Informatics Association, 17(2), 192-195.
Wagner, P. J., Howard, S. M., Bentley, D. R., Seol, Y., & Sodomka, P. (2010). Incorporating patient perspectives into the personal health record: Implications for care and caring.Perspectives in Health Information Management, 7(Fall), 1- 12.