Private Health Records

With this ever changing world, one would suspect the storage of medical records would evolve too. Electronic medical records has been something people have been trying to perfect for a few years now. And with all of this effort, there is still some work to be done. Available today are Private Health Records or PHR, Electronic Medical Records or EMR and Electronic Health Records or EHR. Although, at first glance these would appear to be identical records, there are differences. In an attempt to have a single medical record that would allow limited access to necessary personnel, the EHR was developed. This is a medical record that contains demographics, insurance information and all accumulated medical history from every provider and facility that the patient has used.

In contrast, the EMR contains all of the pertinent information in regards to a patient. Included information in this record is the same as above with one exception. This record is only the information from one facility. In this instance, if the patient frequents more than one facility for medical care, they do not ‘talk’ to each other. The other type of records are the Private Health Records. These records are accumulated and updated by the patient themselves. They are able, through various companies online, create their own medical record. These records allow patients to add scans, test results and pictures if they chose.

The greatest difference between the three records maybe that the EMR and EHR are kept within a closed circuit system. Although many people have access to them, they are relatively secure. In comparison, the PHR is not secure. Private Health Records are stored through the Internet. So, even though many companies will assure their customer of the security, it is impossible for these to be completely secure. The patient is responsible for the safety and security of their PHR.