Breaking personal health records

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Breaking personal health records

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/ip-bph041608.php

Who owns your medical tests results and your personal health data?

Such a vexing question cuts to the core of personal liberty and

freedom of information. Now, researchers writing in the International

Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management have introduced the

notion of ownership of medical information and present a basic

research model for the adoption of personal health records.

Personal health records (PHRs) have been developed in the US as part

of the Institute of Medicine's goal of improving healthcare quality

and making it more patient-centered as well as through patient

pressure to have greater control of their health data. The PHR is

also integral to the US National Health Information Network (NHIN),

which will give all Americans access to their electronic health

records by 2014. However, little research has been published on how

PHRs compare with other types of medical records or how privacy

concerns are to be addressed.

Melinda Whetstone and Ebrahim Randeree of the College of Information,

at Florida State University, Tallahassee explain that employers,

insurance companies, healthcare providers and independent entities

have increasing access to PHRs. However, whether the PHR, and other

types of electronic records (Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and

Electronic Health Record (EHR), have been adopted and implemented

successfully remains unclear.

One of the aims of adopting the PHR is to reduce the chances of

medical errors caused by overuse, under use or misuse of a patient's

medical data. The Institute of Medicine estimated that there are

almost 100,000 deaths each year caused by such preventable mistakes.

Nevertheless, from the patient perspective, the adoption of PHRs must

provide benefits that outweigh any trust and privacy issues, the

researchers say. Fundamentally, a PHR will be an electronic, lifelong

resource containing an individual's health information, which they

and authorized healthcare workers can access at any time, to allow

them to make appropriate health decisions. The Tallahassee team

suggests that individuals will own and manage the information in the

PHR.

Data in a PHR would include a patient's immunizations, allergies and

adverse drug reactions, medications, herbal remedies taken, past and

present illnesses and hospitalizations, surgeries and other

procedures, laboratory test results, and family history.

The PHR might also contain living wills and advance directives, organ

donor authorization, recent physical examination data, healthcare

workers' opinions, other test results, eye and dental records,

permission and consent forms, and even lifestyle information, such as

details of smoking, drinking, drug use, exercise and diet.

The benefits of adopting a secure, online PHR system include allowing

access to a comprehensive personal health history that can be used by

healthcare workers. Additionally, it could give patients the means to

become their own health advocate, provide benchmarks and prompts for

maintenance.

" The ability to create a PHR is available. The desire and need for

patients to utilize this technology is real. The intangible question

of 'Will they come?' has yet to be answered. "