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Personal Health Records (PHRs)
- The Markle Foundation defines the PHR as an electronic application through which individuals can access, manage and share, their health information in a secure and confidential environment.
- AHIMA defines the PHR as an electronic, universally available, lifelong resource of health information needed by individuals to make health decisions. Individuals own and manage the information in the PHR, which comes from healthcare providers and the individual. The PHR is maintained in a secure and private environment, with the individual determining rights of access. The PHR is separate from and does not replace the legal record of any provider.
- According to a national survey more than 7 in 10 Americans (70 %) are eager for the new functionalities PHRs offer.
- The California Healthcare Foundation reports that nearly 3 out of 4 Americans express significant concerns about the privacy and confidentiality of their personal health information
- Yet 59% of those respondents stated that they would be willing to share their personal health information when it result in better medical treatment
Markle Foundation’s Personal Health Technology Council endorsed seven patient and consumer principles, in 2005:
- Principle 1: Individuals should be able to access their health and medical data conveniently and affordably
- Principle 2: Individuals should be able to authorize when and with whom their health data is shared
- Principle 3: Individuals should be able to designate someone else, such as a loved one, to have access to and exercise control over how their records are shared
- Principle 4: Individuals should receive easily understood information about all the ways that their health data may be used or shared
- Principle 5: Individuals should be able to review which entities have had access to their personal health data
- Principle 6: “Electronic health data exchanges must protect the integrity, security, privacy, and confidentiality of an individual’s information
- Principle 7: “Independent bodies, accountable to the public, should oversee local and nationwide electronic health data exchanges
AHIMA e-HIM Personal Health Record Work Group. "The Role of the Personal Health Record in the EHR." Journal of AHIMA 76, no.7 (July-August 2005): 64A-D.
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