 What is a PHR?
What is a PHR?
The PHR is a tool that you can use to collect, track and share past and current information about your health or the health of someone in your care. Sometimes this information can save you the money and inconvenience of repeating routine medical tests. Even when routine procedures do need to be repeated, your PHR can give medical care providers more insight into your personal health story.
Remember, you are ultimately responsible for making decisions about your health. A PHR can help you accomplish that.
Important points to know about a Personal Health Record:
• You should always have access to your complete health information.
• Information in your PHR should be accurate, reliable, and complete.
• You should have control over how your health information is accessed, used, and disclosed.
• A PHR may be separate from and does not normally replace the legal medical record of any provider.
Medical records and your personal health record (PHR) are not the same thing. Medical records contain information about your health compiled and maintained by each of your healthcare providers. A PHR is information about your health compiled and maintained by you. The difference is in how you use your PHR to improve the quality of your healthcare.
Take an active role in monitoring your health and healthcare by creating your own PHR. PHRs are an inevitable and critical step in the evolution of health information management (HIM).
Asking for copies of your medical records
Asking for copies of your medical records?
It’s OK to ask for copies of your medical records!
Most of us grew up thinking that “the doctor knows best.” What this meant was that the medical record that was kept in the doctor’s office, or at the hospital, or with the dentist or ophthalmologist or optometrist, was the property of the provider. We didn’t ask to see what was in it, and no one ever offered to share. In fact, it was pretty clear that we were not allowed to touch, and certainly not look at what was being documented about us.
Well, times have certainly changed, thanks to two major events:
1. Increasing use of the internet by patients for health-related research, answers to questions, online support groups, and blogs for any medical topic you may wish to chat about, leading to patients who are smarter and better informed about their treatment options.
2. HIPAA – the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which formalized the process for obtaining copies of your medical records. HIPAA, the same act that regulates how your health information is handled to protect your privacy, also gives you the right to see and obtain a copy of your records. By simply completing an authorization form, you are entitled to receive a copy of your medical record from any provider you see.
What this means for you, as you think about creating your own Personal Health Record (PHR), is that it’s now much easier for you to ask for your records. No doctor is surprised any more when a patient asks for copies of test results or a written consultation. It’s your right, so what are you waiting for? Start building your PHR at your next visit. You’ll be surprised how easy it is!
Access Your Health Records
Access Your Health Records
 You have the right to access your health records. You may view or receive copies of your records, or instead request a summary of the information. Ask for an “authorization for the release of information” form. Complete the form and return it to the facility as directed. Most facilities do charge for copies. The fee can only include the cost of copying (including supplies and labor), as well as postage if you request the copy to be mailed. It can take up to 60 days to receive your medical records, so ask when you can expect to receive the information you requested.
You also have the right to request that changes be made to your health record. If you believe that information in your record is incomplete or incorrect, you can request an amendment. Amendments can be requested by either contacting the person who made the entry (such as your doctor) or by contacting your healthcare organization’s health information management professional. If your request for an amendment is denied you may still request that your request for a change be kept with the record and given to anyone who requests a copy of your health information. Also, you may choose to include the amended information in your PHR.
What You Should Expect When Requesting Records
What You Should Expect When Requesting Records
When you collect your records from your providers, it may be helpful to know the following facts about health records requests:
1. You will be asked to complete an "authorization for the release of information" form for each provider.
2. You may be required to show proof of identification, such as a photo ID.
3. You will likely be charged a fee. Most facilities charge for copies. The fee can only include the cost of copying, which includes supplies, labor, and postage, if the copy is to be mailed.
4. Records may not be available immediately. By law, facilities are allowed up to 60 days to provide records.
Why Should You Maintain a PHR
Why Should You Maintain a PHR?
 You make the difference. A new study suggests that a change in the way we keep health records could save billions. The study found that providing 80% of the US population would cost $3.7 billion in startup costs and $1.9 billion in annual maintenance costs. According to the report from the Center for Information Technology Leadership at Partners Healthcare System in Boston, widespread use of PHR's could save the US healthcare industry between $13 and $21 billion a year.
Your health information is scattered across many different providers and facilities. Keeping complete, updated an easily accessible health records means you can play a more active role in your healthcare as well as that of family members or others in your care.
Why You Need Your Personal Health Records Digital
Why You Need Your Personal Health Records Digital?
One of the primary reasons to have your health data stored electronically is it improves the quality of healthcare you receive by enabling you to be better prepared for doctor visits, equipped with the accurate and relevant information that your doctor needs to determine appropriate course of treatment. Because that vital data can then be conveyed to your doctor more efficiently, more time can be spent during the visit focusing on diagnosing and treating as opposed to gathering information.
An electronic PHR also ensures the availability of your health information in a legible form and facilitates the flow of that information between you and your healthcare provider(s) whether only one physician is treating you or several doctors are participating in your care. Information in the record can be conveyed to your health-care provider(s) verbally, in print out form, digitally on an external medium such as a flash drive, and in some cases via the Internet prior to office visits. This ease of transfer of medical data is vitally important considering the fact that 18% of medical errors are due to inadequate availability of patient information. Moreover, medical records are frequently lost, doctors retire, hospitals or HMOs purges old records to save storage space, and employers frequently change group health insurance plans resulting in patients needing to change doctors and request transfer medical records which are sometimes illegible. Despite efforts on the part of the government to encourage doctors to keep medical records on a computer, i.e. utilize electronic medical records (EMRs) also called electronic health records (EHRs) in order to reduce errors, the fact of the matter is only 5% of doctors keep medical records on the computer and many that have purchased EMRs have never effectively implemented them or continued to use them in their practices.
Another compelling reason to have an updated personal health record is it could make the difference in saving your life. The Center for Disease Control on its annual list of leading cause of death included medical airs which was listed six ahead of diabetes and pneumonia. Approximately 120,000 Americans die each year as a result of preventable medical errors in hospitals, and who knows what the total is including patients treated outside of the hospital. Equally as critical is the fact that most emergency rooms cannot adequately retrieve your critical health information in a time of emergency.
The fourth reason to have a PHR is to reduce your healthcare expenses. Doctors generally use subjective and objective information about you in arriving at a diagnosis and treatment plan. Subjective data is that information which can be expressed by you such as your symptoms, and objective data is that information which can be measured and recorded, such as physical exam findings, x-ray reports and laboratory test results. Many diagnoses and treatment decisions can be based in large part on subjective information obtained from the patient or patient’s family, but if sufficient and appropriate subjective data cannot be obtained healthcare provider tend to rely more on objective data including x-rays and lab tests which result in higher treatment costs. X-rays and laboratory tests are oftentimes performed unnecessarily because they were recently performed but the patient did not know the results or did not even know they were performed, fueling the flames of rising healthcare costs.
The fifth reason you need your personal health information stored in a computer desktop-based application is to ensure the privacy of your information. There are online repositories that will store your health record, but there are definite concerns regarding privacy and the security of your data. By using a computer-based application to store all-important data about your health, you can ensure that the information remains private and secure. If you feel the need for greater security of the data within your computer or that which has been exported to a flash drive, there are affordably priced folder protection software programs which will protect the data by requiring a login. Alternatively, there are also biometric fingerprint reading devices which can be installed on your computer allowing login with a finger swipe.
The sixth reason you should have a computer-based record of your health information is the fact that maintaining a health record is a shared responsibility between the health-care provider and the health-care consumer. If you doubt that, try filling out a health insurance application without recorded health information to refer to. Traditionally patients have relied upon their healthcare providers to know everything about them and to record that information, but in today’s era of change and looming healthcare reform, that cruise control approach is rapidly coming to a screeching halt. Just as taxpayers are held accountable for knowing and verifying the information they submit or the information that is submitted for them on their tax returns, healthcare consumers are going to be held more accountable for knowing and verifying what is in their medical record. This will be readily apparent if you are ever audited by the Internal Revenue Service or if you have health insurance benefits excluded after your policy has gone into effect because of pre-existing conditions which were not recorded in the insurance application questionnaire at the time of filing.
The seventh reason to have a digital personal health record is to enhance your doctor/patient rapport and engender mutual appreciation. I can recall those patients who were well-prepared with organized, relevant quality information to provide during their patient encounters and the delight I had in treating them. That type of encounter makes the practice of medicine much more fun and mutually beneficial. On the other hand, the patient, by seeking and obtaining a better understanding of my diagnostic and treatment course developed a greater appreciation for me and my efforts. I trust that your experience will be the same.
A digital personal health record (PHR) is a computer-based software program application that allows you to store a variety of personal health information including conditions, emergency contacts, treatment encounters (i.e. visits and communications), journal information in between doctor visits, allergies, immunizations, surgeries, lab results, and family history. Owning and maintaining an up-to-date digital personal health record has many benefits and sets precedence for proactive healthcare involvement and better healthcare outcomes.
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