Personal Health Record Adoption Rates Exceed MU Requirements

Personal health record adoption is expected to reach nearly 75 percent by 2020, far surpassing what's expected in meaningful use patient engagement requirements.

Patient preferences for engagement tools, such as personal health records, may be outpacing meaningful use’s patient engagement requirements, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The study, spearheaded by lead researcher Eric W. Ford, PhD, explored how patients use personal health records (PHRs), the patient-managed version of an EHR, and the rate at which they will adopt the technology. Specifically, the study compared the calculated rate of PHR adoption to the patient engagement requirements in meaningful use. Although meaningful use requirements do not explicitly call for the adoption of a PHR, the researchers argue that several of the patient engagement requirements in the program segue nicely into PHR adoption.

Overall, the researchers found that PHR adoption rates exceed what is required for patient engagement measures for meaningful use. In total, 75 percent of consumers are expected to have adopted a PHR by 2020. Meaningful use, on the other hand, requires only five percent of patients to use patient engagement tools for Stage 2 Meaningful Use, and 10 percent for Stage 3 Meaningful Use...