Assignment Introduction
Physicians and nurses influence patient behavior that can potentially result in improved health outcomes. Introducing patient-centered health records (PHRs) to patients continues in this same tradition by providing self-management tools. Furthermore, PHRs also lead to improved communication with care team members and elucidate a higher level of patient interaction (Weitzman, 2012). For example, PHRs are beneficial for patients with chronic illnesses by enabling both the patient and physician to monitor a disease or to prompt earlier intervention (Wager, 2013).
Case Report:
Apple recently entered the PHR market by configuring its popular Health app to allow individuals to access their electronic health records, potentially revolutionizing how consumers manage personal health information from multiple healthcare providers. With their health records at their fingertips, patients with this app become active participants in their long-term care planning and delivery (Krist et al., 2014). Both patients and providers can use PHR data for analyzing, monitoring, and planning health interventions and initiatives (Weitzman, Kelemen, Kad, & Mandl, 2012). Medical care team members can utilize current and accurate patient-maintained health data that are reliable and valid for chronic disease management. By integrating PHRs into long-term care planning, patients are actively engaged to significantly participate in prevention or intervention to improve health outcomes. For example, Jones, Shipman, Plaut, and Selden (2010) emphasized that widespread robust PHR usage will result in higher patient engagement and improve the quality and delivery of health services. But improving health outcomes are just the beginning of why patients ought to record and update their personal health information in an electronic format. For example, Apple's PHR pilot involved working directly with various health systems across the United States and ensuring that national standards for interoperability in data sharing with major EHR systems was achieved (Spitzer, 2018).
Discussion:
The health information for patients with chronic conditions often has gaps; medical records often are siloed and difficult to access, leaving room for a lack of continuity in the health information for a given patient (Pai, Lau, Barnett, & Jones, 2013). PHRs allow patients to be the mediators of their own health information. Patient populations with multiple chronic conditions that require ongoing planning and monitoring are ideal participants to use PHR for long-term care planning (Krist et al., 2014; Pai et al., 2013). Encouraging patients to both manage and maintain the PHR ensures that reliable health data are available for long-term care planning. Introducing patients to PHRs early in the planning process can help them self-manage and follow through on the long-term care plan. However, there are challenges with the use of PHRs. For example, 50.6% of participants in a recent survey failed to adopt PHRs because they were unfamiliar with the technology; older patients with more chronic conditions who may need the app the most are also typically the least literate in mobile technologies (Donohue-Koeniger et al., 2014). Additionally, hospitals and health systems will likely be slow to adopt use of the apps, so using them in a meaningful way is years down the line.
Questions:
Q1. Compare the functionality of personal health records (PHRs) with patient portals. List two way that they different and two ways they are similar. Be sure to include an example from the textbook or an outside peer-reviewed reference to support your analysis.
Q2. In what other ways can consumer-driven technology, such as the iPhone app, be integrated to support a healthy lifestyle or manage health conditions?
Q3. In your own words, create a definition for long-term care planning. How does your definition incorporate technology into the planning process? In your opinion, how can the quality of health outcome be improved under your definition?