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Electronic Personal Health Records Come of Age

We are pleased to bring you this special supplement to the American Journal of Medical Quality (AJMQ) focused on the personal health record (PHR). This supplement is a timely follow-up to our previous report on e-health that documented progress on issues such as implementing electronic medical records (EMR) and forming regional health information organizations (RHIOs). Please see the November/December 2005 issue of AJMQ and the supplement titled “e-Health Initiative Update: Proceedings from the e-Health Technology Summit.” In September 2005, the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) determined that there is no uniform definition of a PHR in industry or government, and the concept continues to evolve. The committee noted that “experts often use the concept of the PHR to include the patient’s interface to a healthcare provider’s electronic health record. Others consider PHRs to be any consumeror patient-managed health record. This lack of consensus makes collaboration, coordination, and policy making difficult.” As a result, the NCVHS concluded that it is not possible or even desirable to attempt a unitary definition of a PHR at this time but noted that it was possible to characterize PHRs by their attributes (ie, scope or nature of the information contained, source of information, features and functions offered, owner of the record, type and location of data repository, technical approach to security, party authorizing access to the information). We have taken the NCVHS recommendations and observations to heart and present in this special supplement a detailed picture of the PHR using a company called InterComponentWare, Inc (ICW) as a concrete example. Why ICW? Because this international corporation is at the forefront of a number of global companies focused on developing PHR technologies and the platforms that facilitate universal connectivity. Through a nonrestricted educational grant, ICW enabled the Department of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College to host an international advisory board meeting on the future of the PHR and, specifically, the LifeSensor product line from ICW. This special supplement, with contributions from faculty of the Department of Health Policy, as well as from industry leaders concerned about the future of the PHR, will form the foundation for an ongoing discussion about the strengths and limitations of our current technology. The supplement contains an overview of the PHR arena, detailed descriptions of ICW’s current PHR technology and experience in deploying systems in Western and Eastern Europe and other countries, and a candid exchange of ideas regarding the barriers and possible solutions to implementing this technology in the United States. Surely we recognize that there are different models for PHRs, and it is not our intention to promote any single platform. Rather, we are highlighting ICW’s technology as a fine example of a fully functional, globally implemented system. Finally, a note to our readers. This supplement extends our coverage of new technologies devoted to improving the quality and safety of medical care. As always, we are interested in your views, and I