What's New | February 16, 2011

Personal Health Records

Personal health records (PHRs) allow health care consumers to collect and maintain complete, updated health information that is easily accessible and can be shared with caregivers and health care providers. The use of PHRs can increase patients’ engagement in managing their own health care and can enhance provider efficiency, leading to improved quality of care.

The featured Innovations describe three programs that utilized personal health record systems in various ways to improve care.

The featured QualityTools provide resources and tools to assist health care consumers in creating their own personal health records.

Featured Innovations:

• Comprehensive Electronic and Personal Health Record System Enhances Patient Engagement and Improves Efficiency of Physician Practice

• Personal Health Record Facilitates Ongoing Monitoring and Communication, Improving Engagement and Outcomes in Low-Income Diabetes Patients

• Web-Based Service Helps Runaway and Homeless Adolescents Feel More Empowered About Health, Enhances Access to Quality Care

Featured QualityTools:

• Health Shack^TM
Developed by Linkage to Education; Sierra Health Foundation; UC Davis Adolescent Medicine; Wind Youth Services

• myPHR
Developed by American Health Information Management Association

• Personal Health Record (PHR) Checklist
Developed by Alzheimers Association

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Also in This Issue:

Innovations >

• Church-Sponsored, Barbershop-Based Program Enhances Access to Screenings and Followup Care for African-American Men in Harlem

• Educational Programs Bridge Communication Gaps Between Providers and Deaf Community, Leading to Enhanced Knowledge About Cancer Among Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Patients

• Multidisciplinary Family Clinic Increases Access to Care for Inner-City Residents, Leading to Improved Outcomes and High Patient Satisfaction

• Physician “Prescriptions” Written During Medical Visit and “Filled” by Onsite Volunteers Connect Low-Income Families to Vital Community Resources

• Proactive Office Encounter Systematically Identifies and Addresses Preventive and Chronic Care Needs at Every Primary Care and Specialty Visit

• Provider-Lawyer Partnerships Increase Access to Health-Related Legal Services and Improve Well-Being for Low-Income Children and Families

• Supported by Nutrition Education, Inpatients with Diabetes Choose from Unrestricted Menu, Leading to Higher Satisfaction and Better Food Choices

QualityTools >

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Resources & Tools
Developed by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity

• Von Willebrand Disease (VWD) Virtual Toolkit
Developed by American Academy of Nurse Practitioners