Personal Health Records May Not Be So Personal

Personal health records often are touted as a way to engage patients by giving them control over their own health care. However, it turns out that personal health records might not be so personal.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that PHRs aren't as patient centered as perhaps they should be. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center assessed the patient centeredness of PHR systems at seven large early adopter organizations in 2007. The study, which was supported by the Commonwealth Fund, found that while most of the organizations offered some patient-centered functions, there is still plenty of room for improvement.