Week 4: Your Patient has a PHR (Personal Health Record)... Now
What?
Patient portals and personal health records (PHRs) are commonplace today. What are the
pros and cons of having a PHR? What safeguards and decision-making support tools are
included in patient portals and PHRs to help patients and healthcare professionals ensure
safety?
Professor and Class,
“Personal health records provide a private, secure application where the individual may access,
manage, and share his information with selected/authorized individuals.” (CCN, 2017).
Personal health records or also called PHR’s are becoming more prominent in healthcare and
prove to be very beneficial. With the use of PHR the patient could have 24/7 access to their
medical information. The patient can also share this current and up to date information with
whomever they choose such as other providers or caregivers. [Heb13]. PHR’s help keep the
patient well informed and it can encourage the patient to be more involved and engaged in
their health. Additionally, the use of PHR decreases patient wait time for results. I once worked
in an internal medicine office in which our patients were able to utilize PHR and sometimes the
patient received their blood work results the same day with a summary of the physician’s
comments and review of the information attached to those results. Furthermore, with patients
able to receive their results electronically this decreased both our incoming and outgoing
telephone calls and letters. This was very beneficial and while decreasing my and the other
nurses telephone use this allowed time for more patient care for patients physically in the
office. Another great benefit the PHR provides is the ability for the patient to keep track of
their healthcare. Patients can view appointments and set appointment reminders. More
importantly they can view all their current and past medications. One specific advantage I
encountered was
the use of PHR with my hearing impaired and deaf patients. PHR was particularly useful to
these patients and some of these patient’s did not want to be contacted any other way.
Although Personal Health Records provide many benefits it does come with some
disadvantages as well.
In order to use the PHR you must be able to access it and a lot of times this requires a smart
phone or computer and internet. Also, the patient has to be able to understand how to utilize
this tool. Some of the patient’s I encountered wanted to use PHR but did not have the tools to
do so and some patients had the tools but had little understanding on how to use the PHR or
even the device required to use it. “Patient education and active engagement in the use of
PHRs is essential for success.” (Lester, M., Boateng, S., Studeny, J., & Coustasse, A., 2016). The
facility wanted us to promote the PHR, but gave us very little time or no time to educate the
patient on how to use it. They instead told us to provide a pamphlet with a help desk number.
Additionally, some patients who received their results even with the physician’s review
comments and instructions became very confused, concerned, and sometimes fearful. Some
patients would
put aside the physician’s recommendations and look up their results on unreliable internet
sources and ultimately become very upset and concerned they have something else going on.
Similarly the results would be available for the patient to view automatically after 24 hours
even if the physician had not yet review them or addressed them in the computer. This became
an issue and allowed a very sensitive test result to be sent to the patient before they had the
chance to call them with the news. With more patients using PHR it also added to the
https://www.coursehero.com/file/32194748/Week-4-Your-Patient-has-a-PHR-Personal-Health-Record-Now-Whatdocx/
What?
Patient portals and personal health records (PHRs) are commonplace today. What are the
pros and cons of having a PHR? What safeguards and decision-making support tools are
included in patient portals and PHRs to help patients and healthcare professionals ensure
safety?
Professor and Class,
“Personal health records provide a private, secure application where the individual may access,
manage, and share his information with selected/authorized individuals.” (CCN, 2017).
Personal health records or also called PHR’s are becoming more prominent in healthcare and
prove to be very beneficial. With the use of PHR the patient could have 24/7 access to their
medical information. The patient can also share this current and up to date information with
whomever they choose such as other providers or caregivers. [Heb13]. PHR’s help keep the
patient well informed and it can encourage the patient to be more involved and engaged in
their health. Additionally, the use of PHR decreases patient wait time for results. I once worked
in an internal medicine office in which our patients were able to utilize PHR and sometimes the
patient received their blood work results the same day with a summary of the physician’s
comments and review of the information attached to those results. Furthermore, with patients
able to receive their results electronically this decreased both our incoming and outgoing
telephone calls and letters. This was very beneficial and while decreasing my and the other
nurses telephone use this allowed time for more patient care for patients physically in the
office. Another great benefit the PHR provides is the ability for the patient to keep track of
their healthcare. Patients can view appointments and set appointment reminders. More
importantly they can view all their current and past medications. One specific advantage I
encountered was
the use of PHR with my hearing impaired and deaf patients. PHR was particularly useful to
these patients and some of these patient’s did not want to be contacted any other way.
Although Personal Health Records provide many benefits it does come with some
disadvantages as well.
In order to use the PHR you must be able to access it and a lot of times this requires a smart
phone or computer and internet. Also, the patient has to be able to understand how to utilize
this tool. Some of the patient’s I encountered wanted to use PHR but did not have the tools to
do so and some patients had the tools but had little understanding on how to use the PHR or
even the device required to use it. “Patient education and active engagement in the use of
PHRs is essential for success.” (Lester, M., Boateng, S., Studeny, J., & Coustasse, A., 2016). The
facility wanted us to promote the PHR, but gave us very little time or no time to educate the
patient on how to use it. They instead told us to provide a pamphlet with a help desk number.
Additionally, some patients who received their results even with the physician’s review
comments and instructions became very confused, concerned, and sometimes fearful. Some
patients would
put aside the physician’s recommendations and look up their results on unreliable internet
sources and ultimately become very upset and concerned they have something else going on.
Similarly the results would be available for the patient to view automatically after 24 hours
even if the physician had not yet review them or addressed them in the computer. This became
an issue and allowed a very sensitive test result to be sent to the patient before they had the
chance to call them with the news. With more patients using PHR it also added to the
https://www.coursehero.com/file/32194748/Week-4-Your-Patient-has-a-PHR-Personal-Health-Record-Now-Whatdocx/
