Personal health records are medical databases that allow patients to access their health records and other relevant medical information. They champion patient-centered healthcare, thus, assist patients in health-self management (Hebda & Czar, 2013). PHRs also act as communication platforms between patients and healthcare practitioners, therefore, reducing inter-provider communication to access rationalized medical information. In addition, communication between patients and caregivers is fastened, as medical information can be shared through electronic channels.
PHRs can store important data such a person’s healthy lifestyles, family history, social status, and working environment that help caregivers in assessing and creating healthcare plans (Hebda & Czar, 2013). The information also provides avenues for patient education on healthcare maintenance and improvement. PHR’s acts as a foundation for personal health self-management as they permit patients to document, revise, and recover their health care data. As a result, patients are able to monitor their health progress, detect critical situations and take necessary interventions in time. In most cases, patients share their PHRs with medical practitioners. The records can also be accessed through inter-practitioner exchange, where medical practitioners exchange a patients’ health data within the acceptable limit. PHRs can also be accessed from Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) stored in hospital databases.
The most controversial obstacle for PHRs is privacy threats of patients’ information brought about by technology (Hebda & Czar, 2013). PHRs are commonly shared over networks that are prone to hacking. This may result to exposure information to authorized individuals. Information about a person’s quantitative information may also reveal sensitive information, thus breaching confidentiality. Medical practitioners also expose PHRs’ to uncontrolled secondary uses in research. Finally, medical personnel may leak out PHRs to gain self-interests.
References
Blumenthal, D. (2011). The Age of Meaningful Use. Web.
Hebda, T., & Czar, P. (2013). Handbook of informatics for nurses healthcare professionals (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.