Personal Health Records Assignment

Consider the PHRs of today for the Personal Health Records Assignment. Patient-accessible health records are currently web-based and have seen little consumer use when compared to the total U.S. population. The VA has had notable success with its veterans logging on; however, other web-based portals have struggled. GoogleHealth, a free PHR site, shut its services down effective January of 2012 citing too few and inconsistent users to maintain the site.

PHRs can eliminate the plethora of patient charts and help to assimilate a lifetime of medical documentation. What do you think will motivate society to fully embrace these electronic resources?

To prepare:

• Reflect on the information presented in the Learning Resources, focusing on personal health records and patient portals as used by the VA.
• Consider your personal and professional experiences with personal health records and patient portals.
• What benefits, concerns, and challenges do these types of systems bring to the healthcare profession? How might they influence your professional practice and your patient’s health outcomes?
• Explore one patient portal. If you do not have access to one through your practice setting, utilize a free service such as FollowMyHealth or Microsoft HealthVault.
• Assess the kind of information that you would put in your own personal health record. What concerns (if any) would you have about the security of your personal information in a personal health record?
• Think about your stance on the value of PHRs. Do you believe that every individual should be required to maintain a PHR?
  • What capabilities and/or features might entice people to use them?
  • What factors might inhibit people from using them?

By Day 3 post a cohesive response that addresses the following:

• Appraise your selected personal health patient portal.
• Evaluate the influence of PHRs on health care delivery and clinical practice.
• Take a position for or against mandating PHRs. Justify your stance by addressing the following points:
  • Personal health records via patient portals are part of Meaningful Use 2 and the debate over mandating them is essentially over.
  • What capabilities and/or features might motivate individuals to maintain PHRs?
  • What factors may deter individuals from signing up for this service?
  • What concerns might you and your patients have about a PHR’s capability to securely maintain personal information?
  • How might PHRs influence your professional practice and your patient’s health outcomes, positively or negatively?

Read a selection of your colleagues’ postings.

By Day 6 respond to at least two of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

• Select a college whose views are in opposition to yours. Use your research to academically debate why your viewpoint differs from theirs.
• Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence, or research.
• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
• Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
• Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
• Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you learned and/or any insights you gained as a result of the comments made by your colleagues.

Be sure to support your work with specific citations from this week’s Learning Resources and any additional sources.

Click on the Reply button below to post your response.

The Influence of PHRs on Health Care Delivery and Clinical Practice

NURS 8210 Week 9: Personal Health Records

“By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs and improve care.” —President George W. Bush at his State of the Union Address on January 20th, 2004 (as cited in MSNBC, 2005).

“Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy, and save lives.” —President Barack Obama during his address to a Joint Session of Congress on February 24th, 2009 (as cited in Miller Center, 2011).

At the core of any health information system are patient data. These data can take many forms, from a medical diagnosis to a therapeutic regime, and from a laboratory result to a personal food diary. Through electronic record keeping, healthcare providers and organizations are able to collect, organize, and analyze patient data to support and improve clinical decision-making and to deliver more timely and effective care. Patients, too, are benefiting from greater access to their personal health data, taking a more active role in their healthcare decisions.

This week, you consider the benefits of electronic health records and personal health records (PHR).

References:
MSNBC. (2005, January 27). Bush pushes computerized medical records. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6876192/ns/health-health_care/t/bush-pushes-computerized-medical-records/
Miller Center. (2011). Presidential speech archive. Retrieved from http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Appraise a personal health patient portal
• Evaluate the benefits of electronic records for patients
• Assess the value of personal health records and patient portals