[SKS-2-02] Patient Engagement and Personal Health Record
Patient Engagement, Personal Health Record (PHR), Smartphone, COVID-19
Patient engagement (PE) is an essential part of patient-medical professional relationships and a significant element of safe, high-quality, and cost-effective healthcare/medical services. Recent advances in information and communications technology (ICT), especially the Internet, smartphones, and decision support systems (including e-commerce and obtaining of informed consent), have promoted PE well. Additionally, a breakthrough development of PE in the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era is expected because installation of more ICT in medical services is needed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has explained that PE encompasses six essential elements:
1. Design and development of patient-centered processes and systems
2. Patients’ access to their own electronic health records (EHRs)
3. PE in policy development
4. Collection of information about patient experiences and care outcomes
5. Healthcare education and training
6. Educating and empowering people to recognize their health needs and seek healthcare in a timely manner
The Personal Health Record (PHR), a smartphone application, can contribute in enhancing all six elements of PE and education/training for medical professionals.
However, we should establish the standard and interoperability of PHR data, including transfer protocol (e.g., HL7 FHIR), standard code of data items, and minimum data set in each clinical use case according to the standard clinical guideline before the PHR is diffused.