March 11, 2009
Review of Barriers to Adoption of Electronic Personal Health Records
There as been increased interest in personal health records as an electronic tool to manage health information. A group led by a UCSF researcher James S. Kahn, MD has identified cost, privacy concerns, design shortcomings and difficulties sharing information across different organizations as critical barriers hindering broad implementation of electronic personal health records.
The barriers are discussed in a paper appearing in the March-April 2009 issue of the journal "Health Affairs." This special issue also discusses Health IT topics such as Social Media in Healthcare, A Framework for Privacy 2.0, E-prescribing and Computerized Physician Order Entry and others.
Dr Kahn and colleagues believe that there is a dynamic relationship as patients' behavior influences personal health record acceptance and personal health record adoption influences consumers' behavior. Personal health records controlled by patients that are interoperable with other systems so that they can take their records with them are also essential for empowering patients and ensuring their control over their own health care.
Exploring other technologies such as mobile phones as an easier entry point for consumers to access their records could play an important role as well. A personal health record could interact with patients through automated mechanisms such as alerts or reminders and improve medication adherence. Consumer-to-consumer interactions through social networking sites could provide group support for healthy behavior changes such as tobacco cessation.
In addition, there is a need to understand and recognize that some established personal health record vendors may not respond to all patient needs and find ways to establish a common ground.
Posted by rsk at March 11, 2009 01:11 PM