Reading this article on NPR, Internet Health Records: Convenience at a Cost?,  prompted me to think more about Personal Health Records (PHRs) and Electronic Medical Records (EMRs).  In re-reading my previous post The Ideal Personal Health Record, I'm not sure that it was clear about my thoughts.

The other day in a meeting I described the relationship between the EMR and PHR this way:

Think of the PHR and the EMR as two separate entities sitting side by side.

The patient’s PHR can look at the patient’s EMR but is not allowed to change it.  The patient can add items from their EMR to their PHR.  Then they are able to modify that item only in their PHR to add additional details, etc.

The physician’s EMR about a patient can look at the patient’s PHR but can’t change it.  The physician can pull pieces of the patient’s PHR into the EMR as they feel it is appropriate because they are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of the EMR.  The physician is able to modify a patient’s EMR.

The two systems exist separately but are able to communicate with each other.

This system will only be able to work if the PHR is linked to a health care provider’s EMR.  The larger PHR systems like HealthVault and Google Health may be used to transmit data between PHRs so if a patient moves they can take their data with them.