1. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD
EMPOWERING PATIENTS AND FAMILIES

2. What is an Electronic Health Record (EHR)?
This is a continuous electronic record of patients’ personal health information created by healthcare workers when a patient visits any healthcare setting. Here it contains patients’ personal health information such as demographics, progress notes, health problems, and medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports. The EHR programs and streamlines the health worker’s job processes.
The EHR can create a complete record of a patient’s visit to a healthcare facility. Whilst providing the necessary health information to facilitate multidisciplinary care using evidenced based practice models (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2013).
This system can empower patients and families through the joint use of a Personal Health Record (PHR). This is an application that persons utilize to obtain, oversee and share their personal health information and other persons when they are authorized to do so via a private and protected portal ( Markle Foundation, 2003 ).

3. EXAMPLE OF INTERACTION BETWEEN ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD AND PERSONAL HEALTH RECORD

4. ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF EHR
Reduce medical errors
Increase the quality of care provided to patients
Bring down health care costs
DISADVANTAGES
Startup costs, which can be excessive
Inequalities in computer literacy amongst users
Confidentiality and security issues
Placement of hardware
Decisions regarding the portability of the equipment
Lack of a common vision for and definition of the EHR
Deficiency of uniform terminology, system architecture, and indexing

5. ADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL HEALTH RECORD
During emergencies patients can provide pertinent information to emergency personnel, for example, illness health history, medications being taken, allergies, family contact information.
Between doctors visits the patient is able to direct their care , it allows you to do the following:
Monitor and evaluate one’s wellbeing. Take charge of your health by measuring your health changes and recording. For example test results, observations with certain treatments.
Maximize doctor visits. Be prepared with queries or questions on any aspect of your health and noted changes like improvements/ worsening state from last visit.
Manage your health between visits. Retrieve information from your home monitoring devices, for example blood sugar readings, blood pressure readings and especially reminding yourself of instructions given by the doctor from last visit.
Become structured. Monitor schedules and treatments.
(Mayo Clinic, 2011)

6. DISADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL HEALTH RECORD
Compiling this takes time, as all your health history or records must be entered into this system. The information must be kept current after every doctor’s visit, receiving a doctor’s prescription and visit to a healthcare facility.
You may think there should be an easier way to maintain this system but providers like doctors, hospital, pharmacies and insurance companies have been slow to implement information technology. Those who are able to send information electronically to your PHR are limited.
All information sent to your records from different providers like doctors must be reviewed by you, this whole process is in its developmental stages, but have proven to be very beneficial to patients as it empowers them to manage their health status.
There are areas that the patient should focus on before starting this recording system.
When making health choices it is advised to do some research, in assessing your options consider these questions:
Is the system easy for me to use?
Can I enter all the information I want to track?
How will my information be kept private?
Will information be added to my record from outside sources, such as insurance or doctors' offices? How and what will be added? (Mayo Clinic,2011)

7. DISADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL HEALTH RECORD
Can I correct or delete information in my record?
Can I share information with my doctor and other caregivers?
Can I upload data from home-monitoring devices, such as a peak flow meter or blood pressure cuff?
What will it cost? Are there any special fees?
Will it help me manage my health by providing information and advice?
Can I create an account for my whole family and manage information for my family members?
Some issues are :
Privacy and security of information
Widespread adoption and use of PHRs will not occur unless they provide perceptible value to users,
Are easy to learn and easy to use, and
Have associated costs (both financial and effort) that are easily justified related to the PHR's perceived value.
Data must be clearly separated so providers can easily review information
(Mayo Clinic,2011).

8. REFERENCES
Connecting for Health. (2003) The personal health working group final report. Markle Foundation.
Retrieved March 16,2013 from
Retrieved March 16,2013 from
Retrieved March 16,2013 from
Tang, P., Ash, J., Bates,D., Overhage,J., Sands,D. (2006). Personal Health Records: Definitions, Benefits, and Strategies for Overcoming Barriers to Adoption. Journal of American Medical Informatics Association. 13(2): 121–126. doi: /jamia.M2025