R U PHRed?
Magazines are spilling much ink over Personal Health Records (PHRs), the latest piece of IT that will fix healthcare. I asked my small-practice doctor a few weeks ago what he would do if a patient presented him with a PHR. Not much, he answered (first I had to explain what it is.) No insurer would pay him to populate the data and it isn't integrated with his (limited) PPM system. The patient would be welcome to a copy of his medical records (for an exorbitant "handling & copying" fee) to populate the PHR himself, but good luck making out the doctors handwriting, medical abbreviations and terminology. If one had seen specialists, those seperate records would need to be secured and entered as well.
The PHR hype is in full swing, and it will likely take a decade minimum for a majority of patients to have PHRs. I doubt most people will even look at their PHR even if they have one, but that's besides the point. Progressive insurers like Aetna offer members a pre-populated PHR based on claims data. In the long term, this will help Aetna improve care, reduce errors and lower costs. Follow the money and one will see the adoption path PHRs follow.
As with all technologies, the question of standards is arising with PHRs. AHIP has taken a good first step in creating a standard that is expected to be ready by December of '08. The standard includes data set and portability requirements to take into consideration a person's change in employers and health plans.
Some payors like Medical Mutual of Ohio and Anthem BCBS have PHRs that align with the AHIP standard. Time will tell how PHRs are accepted by consumers, but for now it's a great story angle for healthcare PR pitching.
Posted by Shawn Whalen on August 28, 2007 at 2:20 PM
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