The healthcare sector has been undergoing a revolution and reform period. Over this period, the focus has been on the role of technology in enabling better patient outcomes while at the same time integrating the patient as an active player in the development of their care plan and the management of their health (Mcway, 2013). The invention of the personalized hea.lth records is one of the milestones that define the continued need to have a system where patients have greater control over their health and health data. Personalized health records are quite different from the electronic hea.lht records. The personalized health records are maintained personally by the patient and they contain all data that appertains the patient health. It is within the concept that patients have to be afforded greater autonomy and empowered to make vital decisions regarding their health (Kraan, Piggott, van der Vegt & Wisse, 2015).
The power of personalized health records rest on the fact that these records aid in the transition from the paternalistic health system where the doctor or physicians is presumed to know it all and determine all the aspects of care regardless of the patient’s preferences and needs. In this case, the physicians and doctors are regarded as the supportive entities that empower patients within the roles of self-care, self-efficacy and self-management (Kraan, Piggott, van der Vegt & Wisse, 2015). The major advantage of personalized health records to the patient is the fact that they are the sole administrators of their health records and they have to worry less about the security and confidentiality (Mcway, 2013).
This increased autonomy also implies that patients are in a better position to personally monitor their health and determine the various changes in state of health without necessarily seeking external assistance from care professional for the basic issues relating to health. For patients with chronic illnesses, the personal health records are an important item in such monitoring and they help prevent the frequent cases of hospitalization since monitoring is real time and medical care where necessary is achieved in a timely manner (Mcway, 2013). For health care organizations, the personal health records help minimize the administrative burden of maintaining electronic health records as this burden is now redistributed to patients.
These health records contain a variety of information that helps define the dynamic health status of the patient over the course of time. Such information encompasses family history, hospitalizations, illnesses, allergic reactions, drug interactions and their adverse effects, laboratory and imaging results, medication history, surgeries, vaccination history as well as observations of Daily Living (ODLs). All this information also encompasses the costs incurred and thus acting as a metric upon which the patient can claim premium benefits from their insurance company (Mcway, 2013).
References
Kraan, C. W., Piggott, J. J. H., van der Vegt, F., & Wisse, L. (2015). Personal Health Records: Solving barriers to enhance adoption.
Mcway D. (2013). Health Care Data Content and Structures. In Today's health information management, an integrated approach (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning.
