title: Dreams and nightmares: practical and ethical issues for patients and physicians using personal health records.
abstract: Electronic health records for patients, personal health records (PHRs), have become increasingly popular among policy makers and purchasers, but uptake among patients and physicians has been relatively slow. PHRs have varying uses that might make them more or less appealing to different stakeholders. The three core uses for PHRs - promoting communication, data use, and patient responsibility - each raises a set of potential practical and financial dilemmas. But some ethical concerns are also at play, some of which are rarely recognized as values-based barriers to the use of PHRs. Recognizing these ethical issues, and addressing them explicitly in PHR design and policy making, would help PHRs to achieve their promise.
authors.affiliation: University of Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wynia
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dunn
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000941:ethics* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D055991:Health Records, Personal / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000941:ethics*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States