Pie in the Sky: Personal Health Records (PHR)

640 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on paediatric palliative care 2015-2020

Imagine a world where everyone paid their taxes, gave to charity and proactively monitored their own health. It would be amazing. There would be enough money for healthcare, research and the cost for both would be substantially less, freeing up money for endeavors such as education. A personal health record (PHR) working in harmony with the electronic medical record (EMR) is the ideal union to facilitate a healthy population, but we are not there. To be honest, I do not foresee the PHR taking root, but for the sake of this paper, I will shove my pessimism in the closet, hide the key and eat my pie (I like key lime), while walking in the land of utopia. An exploration of why PHRs are disruptive to physician practices, the value to consumers, as well as how a PHR and EMR can interact to enhance the quality of care received will be discussed.
The Road to Change
I have always considered healthcare providers, such a physicians, as detectives. They systematically look for clues and gather facts, then couple the data with intuition and past experiences. Consequently, the greater then accuracy of data, the greater the chance the patient will be diagnosed quickly and accurately. For individuals that want to expedited and contribute to the process, a PHR, which is a repository of an individual’s personal health data, is an excellent place to start. According to Christensen, Grossman and Hwang (2009), there are three avenues a PHR may take to disrupt the current physician practice model. The first, agreement on standards, should happen before the new product emerges. In the case of PHRs, this time has already passed. Next, the concept of virtualization, enables different systems to learn to speak the same technological language (Christ...

... middle of paper ...

...transformative tools for consumer-centric care. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 8(1), 45.
Madhavan, S., Sanders, A. E., Chou, W. Y. S., Shuster, A., Boone, K. W., Dente, M. A., ... & Hesse, B. W. (2011). Pediatric palliative care and eHealth: opportunities for patient-centered care. American journal of preventive medicine, 40(5), S208-S216.
Tang, P. C., Ash, J. S., Bates, D. W., Overhage, J. M., & Sands, D. Z. (2006). Personal health records: definitions, benefits, and strategies for overcoming barriers to adoption. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 13(2), 121-126.
Tang, P. C., & Lee, T. H. (2009). Your Doctor’s Office or the Internet? Two Paths to Personal Health Records. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(13), 1276–1278. doi:10.1056/NEJMp0810264
Waegemann, C. P. (2003). Ehr vs. cpr vs. emr. Healthcare Informatics Online, 1-4.

Show More
Related

  • Current Status of the Electronic Health Records in the United States

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    For years now, the healthcare system in the United States have managed patient’s health records through paper charting, this has since changed for the better with the introduction of an electronic medical record (EMR) system. This type of system has helped healthcare providers, hospitals and other ambulatory institutions extract data from a patient’s chart to help expedite clinical diagnosis and providing necessary care. Although this form of technology shows great promise, studies have shown that this system is just a foundation to the next evolution of health technology. The transformation of EMR to electronic heath record system (EHR) is the ultimate goal of the federal government.

    Read More

  • Health Informatics: Improving Health Care In Canada

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hundreds of thousands of physicians have already seen these benefits in their clinical practice.” This is proof that in Canada we should continue to introduce electronic health records and help smaller practises with policies to help with funding. The benefits of electronic health records can drastically improve the quality of health and health

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Meaningful Use And The EHR

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many new technologies are being used in health organizations across the nations, which are being utilized to help improve the quality of health care. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) play a critical role in improving access, quality and efficiency of healthcare ("Electronic health records," 2014). In order to assist in expanding the use of EHR’s, in 2011 The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), instituted a EHR incentive program called the Meaningful use Program. This program was instituted to encourage and expand the use of the HER, by providing health professional and health organizations yearly incentive payments when they demonstrate meaningful use of the EHR ("Medicare and medicaid," 2014). The Meaningful use program will be explored including its’ implications for nurses, nursing, national policy, how the population health data relates to Meaningful use data collection in various stages and finally recommendations for beneficial improvement for patient outcomes and population health and more.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) System

    1659 Words  | 4 Pages

    Did you ever think about how much time is spent on computers and the internet? It is estimated that the average adult will spend over five hours per day online or with digital media according to Emarketer.com. This is a significant amount; taking into consideration the internet has not always been this easily accessible. The world that we live in is slowly or quickly however you look at it: becoming technology based and it is shifting the way we live. With each day more and more people use social media, shop online, run businesses, take online classes, play games, the list is endless. The internet serves billions of people daily and it doesn’t stop there. Without technology and the internet, there would be no electronic health record. Therefore, is it important for hospitals and other institutions to adopt the electronic health record (EHR) system? Whichever happens, there are many debates about EHR’s and their purpose, and this paper is going to explain both the benefits and disadvantages of the EHR. Global users of the internet can then decide whether the EHR is beneficial or detrimental to our ever changing healthcare system and technology based living.

    Read More

  • The Three Stages Of Meaningful Use In Healthcare

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    Portability can improve patient care. Patients no longer have to “tote” their cumbersome medical records around anymore. EHR’s give physicians and clinicians access to critical healthcare information in the palm of their hand, which ultimately leads to improved patient care outcomes. EHR’s also provide security to vital medical and personal healthcare information. Organizations like HIPPA defines policies, procedures and guidelines for preserving the privacy and security of discrete distinguishable health information (HHS.gov,

    Read More

  • Hipaa Privacy Rule

    1950 Words  | 4 Pages

    With today's use of electronic medical records software, information discussed in confidence with your doctor(s) will be recorded into electronic data files. The obvious concern is the potential for your records to be seen by hundreds of strangers who work in health care, the insurance industry, and a host of businesses associated with medical organizations. Fortunately, this catastrophic scenario will likely be avoided. Congress addressed growing public concern about privacy and security of personal health data, and in 1996 passed “The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” (HIPAA). HIPAA sets the national standard for electronic transfers of health data.

    Read More

  • The Electronic Health Record Mandate

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    “An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users.” (healthit.gov) The EHR mandate was created “to share information with other health care providers and organizations – such as laboratories, specialists, medical imaging facilities, pharmacies, emergency facilities, and school and workplace clinics – so they contain information from all clinicians involved in a patient’s care.” ("Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov", n.d., p. 1) The process has proved to be quite challenging for providers. As an incentive, the government began issuing payments to those providers who “meaningfully use certified electronic health record (EHR) technology.” (hhs.gov) There are three stages that providers must progress through in order to receive theses financial incentives. Stage one is the initial stage and is met with the creation and implementation of the HER in the business. Stage two “increases health information exchange between providers.” ("United States Department of Health and Human Services | HHS.gov", n.d., p. 1) Stage three will be the continuation and expansion of the “meaningful use objectives.” ("United States Department of Health and Human Services | HHS.gov", n.d., p. 1) The hospital, where I work, initiated the HER mandate many years ago. In this paper, I will discuss the progression and the challenges that my hospital encountered while implementing the EHR mandate.

    Read More

  • Electronic Medical Records A Medical Renaissance Essay

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    “With tens of thousands of patients dying every year from preventable medical errors, it is imperative that we embrace available technologies and drastically improve the way medical records are handled and processed.”

    Read More

  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

    1793 Words  | 4 Pages

    Robertson, L. (2008). Who’s looking at your medical records? [Electronic version] Saturday Evening Post, 280.3, 54-92, Consumer Health Complete.

    Read More

  • Electronic Health Records: Annotated Bibliography

    1502 Words  | 4 Pages

    This paper will identify the use of Electronic Health Records and how nursing plays an important role. Emerging in the early 2000’s, utilizing Electronic Health Records have quickly become a part of normal practice. An EHR could help prevent dangerous medical mistakes, decrease in medical costs, and an overall improvement in medical care. Patients are often taking multiple medications, forget to mention important procedures/diagnoses to providers, and at times fail to follow up with providers. Maintaining an EHR could help tack data, identify patients who are due for preventative screenings and visits, monitor VS, & improve overall quality of care in a practice. Nurse informaticists play an important role in the adaptation, utilization, and functionality of an EHR. The impact the EHR could have on a general population is invaluable; therefore, it needs special attention from a trained professional.

    Read More

  • Electronic Health Record Implementation Essay

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).

    Read More

  • Healthcare Delivery Issues

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to discuss how Electronic Medical Records (EMR), affects healthcare delivery. I will discuss the positives and negatives this issue has on healthcare and how it effects the cost and quality for healthcare services. In addition, I will identify any potential trade-offs to cost or quality. Lastly, I will discuss how the EMR affects my job as well as any challenges or opportunities this issue presents.

    Read More

  • Rapid Health Information Exchange

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    If traveled to a foreign country, I would ensure that my personal health records could be accessible through an internet-based website or a medical profile that was created by my healthcare professionals. The information will be useful if the foreign doctor is able to translate the records into their spoken language or have resources to translate the medial records. If any reason I do not have access to my personal records, I would contact my family doctor to give verbal consent for the foreign doctor to have access to personal health records for the treatment. The foreign doctor would have to make sure clinic has access to internet-based services, and security measures to protect the information during access. The coding of the records will not be meaningful if the coding is different in the foreign country.

    Read More

  • Impact Of Health Information Technology On The Quality Of Patient Care

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    Studies have implied that, healthcare professionals who practice clinical features through EHR were far more likely provide better preventive care than were healthcare professionals who did not. (page 116). From 2004, EHR has initiated, even the major priority of President Obama’s agenda is EHR (Madison & Stagger, 2011). Health care administration considers EHR as the introduction of advanced technology which can improve patient satisfaction are can increase the financial incentives of the healthcare organization. Studies have pointed out that the federal policy is proposed to transform all medical records into EHR (Hebda & Calderone, 2010).

    Read More

  • Essay On Electronic Health Record

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    The purpose of the Electronic Health Record is to provide a comprehensive, standardized and universal digital version of a patient 's health records. The availability of a patient 's digital health record provides health information and data for critical thinking and evidence based decision-making, aggregates patient data for quality assurance and research. The Electronic Health Record has been, "identified as a strategy for effectively and efficiently coordinating and maintaining documentation of patients health histories and as a secure method of providing more informed clinical decision making" (MNA, 2006).

    Read More

More about Pie in the Sky: Personal Health Records (PHR)

Open Document