From November 2002 through May 2003, a group of health information experts and consumer advocates met as the Personal Health Working Group (PHWG) of the Markle Connecting for Health collaborative. The 21 working group members represented government and private sector electronic medical record creators, consumer and patient advocates, medical groups and health systems, electronic record experts, and practicing clinicians.
The PHWG’s goals were to examine the potential benefits of personal health records, the general public’s perceptions of PHRs, the concerns people have, and the issues to be addressed as PHR technology becomes more widely available.
This report summarizes the workgroup’s findings and outlines the requirements for building a national system to support the implementation of PHR. The report is divided into five sections:
- Why: Making the Case for PHR
- What: Defining and Characterizing PHR
- Who: Users and Attitudes toward PHR
- How: Operationalizing the PHR Idea
- Where: PHR Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
