The Personal Health Record (PHR) is an online portal developed by Indian Health Services that will allow patients to view their lab results, medication lists, vital signs, and other important medical information online.

By Chris Lamer, MU Federal Project Lead, and Coleen Maddy, Communications Specialist

Indian Health Service (IHS) is pleased to report that, as of June 2013, eligible professionals (EP) and eligible hospitals (EH) across all of Indian Country have received more than $81 million in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR incentive payments. With the 2014 fiscal year starting in just a few months, the opportunity continues for EP and EH to earn additional EHR incentive payments.

To allow facilities ample time to implement the technology required to meet 2014 certification standards, EP and EH will only have to demonstrate MU for a 90-day period in 2014, regardless of whether they are in Stage 1 or Stage 2. As part of the 2014 Certified EHR Technology, IHS will deploy a personal health record (PHR) that will help transform how patients interact with their healthcare team.

Personal Health Records

The PHR is an innovative software application that will assist patients in accessing some of their medical information via a Web browser. Through this secure portal, patients will be able to view, download, and transmit demographic information, medications, lab results, problems, vital signs, immunizations, and other visit-related information. The PHR will also promote secure communication and facilitate the transmission of key clinical information between patients and their providers.

Before using the application, the patient will need to create a PHR account and then validate his or her identity at the clinic or hospital. A PHR registrar will be available at each healthcare facility to assist with this process. After validating the patient’s identity, the registrar will use a PHR administrative application to link the patient’s PHR and medical record accounts. Because the PHR also interfaces with the Master Patient Index (MPI), the registrar will be able to link the patient with multiple RPMS EHR accounts. Once the PHR and RPMS EHR accounts are linked, patients will be able to view their health information online. If the patient receives care in more than one place, he or she will be able to see information from each facility with the same PHR account.

Patients will be able to review their medications, allergies, and immunization history as well as other healthcare-related information. Because this information will be updated within 24 hours of each patient visit, patients will be assured timely access to their most recent medical record information. Such availability will help address one of the major focal points of MU by encouraging patient engagement.

To learn more about the PHR and other MU news, be sure to register for the MU ListServ at http://www.ihs.gov/meaningfuluse/.