By Marty Perdew
A personal health record is a way of tracking, collecting, and sharing vital information about your health. It is maintained by each individual person, ultimately making you responsible for making informed decisions about your health. Although a PHR does not normally replace legal medical records from a provider, it will allow you to make better health decisions and ultimately improve your quality of care.
Each time you visit a physician, hospital, or other healthcare professional, a record is created compiling what is known as your medical or health record. This record is protected under HIPAA and ensures privacy and security. Its important to note that medical records that are not part of your provider's electronic health records are not considered HIPAA sanctioned and thus are not considered legal health records.
Every time you pay a visit to a different healthcare provider whether it is a family physician, an allergist, a pulmonary specialist, or a cardiologist, a new file of information is created. The chances are, you have many different medical records and each one is separate. Even if they work in the same health care facility, they may have separate records and will not be aware of the treatment you are receiving from each health care professional. This can undoubtedly lead to a disconnect in your treatment because each healthcare professional may not know your comprehensive history.
Keeping your own medical records will allow you to be proactive and will allow you to be more of a partner with your providers in the treatment of your health. It will allow you to reduce the risk of duplicate procedures and save tons of healthcare dollars. It will allow you to include more information that you feel will affect your health, for example, including things such as your exercise routines, your diet and glucose levels if you are diabetic.
Here just a few of the benefits of having an online PHR
- Information to provide to new caregivers
- Ability to knowledgably discuss your health with providers
- Easy access to health information when you are traveling
- Access to information when you cannot contact your doctor
- Your own progress chart for health specific goals
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