Commentary: Personal Health Records Should Be Tailored to Patients

Personal health records must be designed with the right technology to remain patient centered to best manage an individual’s health, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association commentary published on Jan. 19, CMIO reports.

Virginia Commonwealth University physicians Alexander Krist and Steven Woolf described a model that they say should be used to keep the focus on the patient when developing PHRs.

Krist and Woolf write that the model should have five key functions:

• Collect and store patient information;
• Collect and store information from a patient’s physician;
• Convert clinical information into more easily understood language;
• Describe to patients ways to improve their health based on their information; and
• Make it possible for patients to take action on their information.

The authors write, “The typical [PHR] takes an oversimplified approach,” adding, “The power of smart technology could enable PHRs to be far more refined and thereby more appealing to patients” (CMIO, 1/18).

Source: Health IT