title: Personal Health Records: Beneficial or Burdensome for Patients and Healthcare Providers?
abstract: Personal health records (PHRs) have been mandated to be made available to patients to provide increased access to medical care information, encourage participation in healthcare decision making, and enable correction of errors within medical records. The purpose of this study was to analyze the usefulness of PHRs from the perspectives of patients and providers. The methodology of this qualitative study was a literature review using 34 articles. PHRs are powerful tools for patients and healthcare providers. Better healthcare results and correction of medical records have been shown to be positive outcomes of the use of PHRs. PHRs have also been shown to be difficult for patients to use and understand, and providers had concerns about correct information transferring to the portals and patients eliminating information from the record. Concerns regarding patient understanding of medical records, legal liability, and the response time required of providers were also identified. For the PHR to succeed in the US healthcare system, assurance that the information will be protected, useful, and easily accessed is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Marshall University Health Care Administration program Lewis College of Business in South Charleston, WV.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.affiliation: Marshall University Health Care Administration program, Lewis College of Business in South Charleston, WV.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boateng
authors.affiliation: Marshall University Health Informatics program. Health Professions School, in Huntington, WV.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Studeny
authors.affiliation: Marshall University Health Care Administration program, Lewis College of Business in South Charleston, WV.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coustasse
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel; D055991:Health Records, Personal; D062527:Meaningful Use; D033283:Patient Access to Records
keywords: electronic health records; healthcare decisions; meaningful use; personal health records (PHRs)