Abstract
BackgroundContemporary personal health record (PHR) technologies offer a useful platform for individuals to maintain a lifelong record of personally reported and clinically sourced data from various points of medical care.ObjectiveThis paper presents an integrative review and synthesis of the extant literature on PHRs. This review draws upon multiple lenses of analysis and deliberates value perspectives of PHRs at the product, consumer, and industry levels.MethodsAcademic databases were searched using multiple keywords related to PHRs for the years 2001-2020. Three research questions were formulated and used as selection criteria in our review of the extant literature relevant to our study.ResultsWe offer a high-level functional utility model of PHR features and functions. We also conceptualize a consumer value framework of PHRs, highlighting the applications of these technologies across various health care delivery activities. Finally, we provide a summary of the benefits of PHRs for various health care constituents, including consumers, providers, payors, and public health agencies.ConclusionsPHR products offer a myriad of content-, connectivity-, and collaboration-based features and functions for their users. Although consumers benefit from the tools provided by PHR technologies, their overall value extends across the constituents of the health care delivery chain. Despite advances in technology, our literature review identifies a shortfall in the research addressing consumer value enabled by PHR tools. In addition to scholars and researchers, our literature review and proposed framework may be especially helpful for value analysis committees in the health care sector that are commissioned for the appraisal of innovative health information technologies such as PHRs.
Highlights
Among the many technology applications available to individuals today for managing their own health and wellness, electronic personal health records (PHRs) offer a valuable means to facilitate active participation of health care consumers, including patients and their caregivers
Consumers benefit from the tools provided by PHR technologies, their overall value extends across the constituents of the health care delivery chain
By virtue of their potential capabilities to help individuals track their health conditions, provide access to patient medical record information (PMRI), and offer communication tools to interact with health care providers, PHRs have been regarded as a paradigm shift toward consumer-centric and patient-oriented health and medical services [1,2]
Summary
Among the many technology applications available to individuals today for managing their own health and wellness, electronic personal health records (PHRs) offer a valuable means to facilitate active participation of health care consumers, including patients and their caregivers. Government eHealth initiatives in many countries are currently focused on the implementation of these technologies to foster greater patient engagement with personal health information (PHI) management and care coordination. Stage 3 Meaningful Use program under the US Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health initiative This program calls for improving patient engagement through functionality, such as patient access to medical records, patient communication tools, and interoperability with hospital electronic health records (EHRs) [10,11]. Contemporary personal health record (PHR) technologies offer a useful platform for individuals to maintain a lifelong record of personally reported and clinically sourced data from various points of medical care
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