#HIMSS10 Physician Synergy Sessions about PHRs (overflowing room)

This morning, I came out of a Physician Synergy Session tiled, "Transactional Patient Portals - What, Why, and How." Eric Liderman, MD, MPH, along with his team from Kaiser Permanente (KP) were discussing some of their experiences with a personal health record (PHR) and the room was packed!

The KP example involved "My Health Manager" and the speakers were presenting some very interesting data from their network of physicians and patients. Here are some interesting tidbits from this session:

• 57% of patients want some type of secure PHR
• over 40% of KP patients are active users of the "My Health Manager" PHR
• The use of this PHR boosted patient retention, satisfaction, and involvement in their health
• Patients are provided with links to a health/drug encyclopedia so that they can learn about their health "at the moment" they are presented with the information
• When the PHR service was provided, patients were very eager to look up their lab results
• The Medicare population is the most active group utilizing online prescription refills (they probably also take the most medications compared to other groups) 
• Exposing data to consumers reveals weaknesses in the clinical process
• Physician advisory boards and physician champions are key to the successful adoption, implementation and use of a PHR

Many major health plans are now reimbursing for "eCare," so if you're a physician and you've been thinking about using secure messaging to communicate with your patients and deliver care, you should look into this.