You mentioned something on this subject before? I thought you were an advocate for PHR? If so I would like to hear your thoughts on the value of a PHR for a patient who has an EMR available from the Primary Care that they see. I have often taken a shot at the PHR saying that a patient trying to use one is somewhat analogous to a person arriving at the IRS for an audit, armed with a shoe box full of receipts. My point being that I believe the patient needs a physician to organize and prioritize the record. Greg Pecchia, D.O. speaking to the Calif. state Osteopathic association made the point that "we are becoming medical accountants". I agree with that notion, and believe it is very good to have a competent 'accountant' to put your medical record in order. I don't want to do it for free, but feel it is included in the work I do when I create the database that is the EMR in my office.
My question for you is, when should I put that shoebox in order? Who will pay me to do it. Will I have to put it back in order every time I see the patient? If I peek in the shoebox, but don't put it in order do I incur liability for what is in there? (I think I do!) What if I miss something in the shoebox? Do I incur liability if I decline to look in there? (I think I do incur legal liability for not looking and I think there is a moral imperative to look).
In my dream world my EMR and the shoebox would be able to talk to each other. I could plug in the flash drive or log on to Google and give the patients pass word and then ONLY the new entries would arrive IN MY CHART for me to review and sign off on. My world would remain orderly, the patient would get the advice I can offer and I would have the benefit of the most complete database.
Make me feel warm and fuzzy about these things. Right now I dread the patient handing me a flash drive or a web address for Kaiser when have a waiting room full.
