Personal Health Records and Electronic Health Records

A personal health record (PHR) is a detailed accumulation of information about an individual on matters of health. As such, different persons can decide what type of health information to add to the personal health record. Some of the critical data stored in a PHR include, and not limited to, any kind of allergies an individual may have, medical background of the family, result of several tests such as imaging, lab, vaccination, among others.  A patient takes the role of maintaining this record because it would help in accessing medical services to address specific pathological conditions. However, PHR can be kept in two distinct forms. The first one is standalone PHR, where an individual secures the information and can share with medical practitioners at will. The other type is where patient collaborates with doctors to maintain a shared PHR to give healthcare facilities access to medical information. On the other hand, electronic health record (HER), is managed by healthcare organizations and can only be shared between healthcare providers. For example, when one hospital record critical...