Difference Between EHR and PHR

Throughout a lifetime, a person deals with a lot of health-related ups and downs. At the same time, some are cured at home by taking simple rest; in some instances, an individual may require mild to severe medical attention.

It is best to keep a record of one’s health in order to refer to it whenever needed.

EHR vs PHR

The main difference between EHR and PHR is that an EHR is created by health care personnel while a PHR is created and maintained by the patient. An EHR or Electronic Health Record contains all the records of one’s medical condition whenever they visit a healthcare unit. In contrast, a PHR or Personal Health Record is way more than that.

Electronic Health Record or EHR is basically like an electronic book that keeps records of patients whenever they visit any clinic or doctor officially and go through a diagnosis or a treatment.

It is created by healthcare people and is also maintained by them only, which is slightly different in the case of PHR.

A Personal Health Record or PHR is generally regarded as a health record that a person creates. It includes all the medical details from medical history, allergies, severe ailments and regular checkup information.

The information from hospitals can be added with addition oh anything that a person wants to include.

Comparison Table Between EHR and PHR

What is EHR?

An EHR or Electronic Health Record is an essential document that almost everyone must have. It is like a digital book of records containing information about all the treatment, diagnoses, medication, checkups, and other essential procedures that took place at a registered health care unit.

An EHR is created by certified health care personnel to maintain the correctness and safe composition of the record. The information present in an Electronic Health Record is of great importance.

It is used by doctors and even different medical organisations to check and update information regarding the patient’s health. The previous information about a patient’s health condition can be used productively to give them the best treatment.

The Electronic Health record is, as we already know, a digitally maintained record. It is, therefore, shared conveniently between multiple hospitals, doctors, clinics, etc., to analyse and use.

All the information entered in the EHR can only be edited by healthcare personnel. There is various EHR software present out there which have different sections for different pieces of information like prescriptions, records, dates, etc.

These can also be accessed by the patients from their laptops.

What is PHR?

A PHR or Personal Health Record is a lot different from an Electronic Health Record. As the name suggests, a Personal Health Record is a record maintained personally by the patient.

It is vital for people to create a Personal Health Record in order to keep track of their health conditions in a more personal manner. When maintained on a personal level, the information that can be added to the PHR increases by many times than an EHR.

People can keep a record of their regular checkups, medical history, allergies, as well as mild conditions, symptoms, and health disturbances for which they didn’t run to the hospital.

A Personal Health Record is created and maintained by a patient itself, and therefore there are also a lot of PHR applications available to ease this record keeping. 

These apps provide a sorted section for each piece of information like allergies, vaccines, checkups, lab reports, etc. A patient can quickly enter the necessary details correctly, and a record is maintained.

A PHR can be accessed just by the patient unless they decide to share it with anyone like a doctor, clinic, or anything else. A personal health Record is always helpful to refer to in case of emergencies too.

Main Differences Between EHR and PHR

1. EHR is an abbreviation of Electronic Health Record, while PHR refers to Personal Health Record.
2. An EHR is created and maintained by medical officials, whereas a PHR is created and maintained by the patient itself.
3. Electronic Health Record contains information related to every time a person goes for medical assistance, whereas a Personal Health Record can, in addition, have a record of medical history.
4. An Electronic Health Record is shared among multiple healthcare organisations, whereas the Personal Health Record is just accessible by the patient.
5. An EHR can only be updated and edited by medical officials, while a PHR can be edited by the patient.

Conclusion

The availability of Electronic Health Records and Personal Health records makes it a lot convenient to access pieces of information about a patient by a doctor or any healthcare unit in order to give the right and precise treatment.

The medical record or history of a patient can tell a lot about their present condition and what all treatments and medication can suit them better and make them fit and fine in the quickest way possible.

Therefore, it is the duty of healthcare personnel and patients to create and keep these records correctly and safely to refer to at any time.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11606-011-1859-6.pdf
2. https://www.jmir.org/2012/6/e150