Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications in Child Health (Health ...

Chapter 21
Personal Health Records
Alan E. Zuckerman and George R. Kim
Objectives
To provide motivation and definitions for personal health records (PHRs)
To summarize current progress in development and adoption of PHRs
To project the use and challenges of PHRs in pediatrics
21.1 Introduction
A personal health record (PHR, also known as a personally controlled health record
or PCHR) is “an electronic application through which individuals can access,
manage and share their health information, and that of others for whom they are
authorized, in a private, secure, and confidential environment.” 1 PHRs are lifelong
summaries of key information from all providers and include data gathered
between encounters, and although they may be linked to and share information with
electronic health records (EHRs), PHRs are distinct in that the locus of control of
information is the patient 2 (and in the case of pediatrics, the parent or guardian)
instead of a clinician or health care institution.
While specific definitions are still evolving (including the HL7 PHR-S
functional model 3 ) the goals of PHR development and adoption include: education
and empowerment of health consumers, improvement of patient safety, health
quality, and reduction of costs through information access (to improve efficiency
and reduce duplication of services). Interest in development and adoption of PHRs
has increased among employers, 4 professional health groups 5 and government
agencies, 6 and a list of 20 recommendations on privacy, security requirements,
interoperability, research and evaluation and federal roles in PHR and PHR system
development has been published. 7
C.U. Lehmann et al. (eds.), Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications 293
in Child Health, Health Informatics,
© Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009