As a family physician and advocate for the use of technology to enhance patient care, I have watched with great interest the development of personal health records. The future potential benefits are significant, providing individuals with a personal view of their health status
and the ability to interact with their physician(s), and other caregivers, particularly in relation to specific disease conditions.
As with any new technology, there is always a heightened sense of expectation. How much information, how soon can it be accessed what types of information? These are questions that will be answered as we become more comfortable with personal health records and exactly where they fit into care delivery.
Change does not happen quickly and in fact healthcare is very resistant to new treatments and processes. Beyond the obvious capability of patients to be able to manage their personal health information, the value of the PHR will depend on the quality and how applicable the information is that can be accessed through the PHR. This is going to take time.
The information in the PHR has to be timely (quicker to access than traditional mechanisms), accurate (trusted by both the providers of care and patients), relevant (usable to the individual in managing their health or that of a family member) and available (with less effort than through traditional mechanisms).
These are tall orders that are not just dependent on wants and needs of the user of a PHR. They require significant chang
e in the way information is managed and as a result, will require an evolutionary change.
The important question to ask is ‘Are we heading in the right direction with personal health records?’ I believe so, but also think that we must set realistic expectations.
If a PHR is able to avoid just one significant drug interaction or alert an individual to a critical event, does that justify the value? If you were the individual on the receiving end, I would hazard a guess that you would say yes. Over time, we will learn where the PHR fits most logically and where it provides greatest value.
Personal health records will evolve as the healthcare system changes and I have no doubt that there will be critical stages of development. In the early days, these stages will be small and may not even be noticeable. However I strong believe that at a future time, we will look back and ask ourselves how we ever managed without access to our PHR and the convenience, capability and functions that it offers us.
I am interested in your comments regarding personal health records and the value you see now and in the future.
