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In this episode of NewsFlash, DiPaola discusses many of the new developments in Personal Health Records (PHRs).

Category: NewsFlash
Date: May 20, 2010
Views:1,486 views
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Hello, I’m Dawn DiPaola, and I will be discussing new developments in Personal Health Records. Recent studies show that adoption of PHRs by patients is dependent on their physicians’ support for PHR technology. For PHRs to continue to gain momentum, it will be important for both physicians and consumers to see the benefits of using PHR technology.

To address the need to educate both physicians and consumers about PHR products and their benefits, several groups across the healthcare sector will rollout two new "Personal Health Record (PHR) Quick Reference Guides.” The guides will explain to both consumers and providers how PHRs can be useful for making more informed healthcare decisions and enhancing care coordination.

The guides will include basic information about PHRs along with a FAQ section designed to increase understanding of the value of using and maintaining a PHR. The guides were created by a collaboration of healthcare groups including the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association of Medical Informatics, and the Medical Group Management Association.

We are also seeing new PHR products that tailored to patients’ specific health concerns and needs. HealthSaas, Inc. announced the release of a new suite of condition and disease specific PHRs. It will first release the EHR for pain management. Diabetes and Sports medicine PHRs will be available later this year, and Breast and Prostate Cancer PHRs are expected for release in 2011.

Alan Paget, CTO of HealthSaaS.net states, “Each PHR will have its own unique attributes as every condition or disease has its own elements that need to be tracked and managed. Solutions for mobile devices, integration of medical hardware devices, white labeling for clinicians, services for research studies and clinical trials are also available as part of our vertical strategy. We work closely with clinicians and researchers to ensure that our suite of services assists in providing the best possible care for patients and can help improve effectiveness of treatment.”

As technology becomes increasingly integrated into healthcare delivery systems and physicians’ offices, consumers will become more conditioned to utilize technology for their own personal health needs. As the medical community embraces and supports PHRs, I see patient use of them only growing in the future.

I’m Dawn DiPaola, and this is EHRtv NewsFlash. Thanks for watching.