Abstract
Why is a clinical psychologist studying patient portals and personal health records? As an evidence-based clinician, Dr. Carolyn Turvey pursued a research program of developing technology-delivered, home-based psychotherapy for depressed elders. Her initial focus was elders with chronic disabling illness, and she soon became aware of enormous gaps in coordination of care for complex chronic illness. One solution to these gaps was to provide patients and their caregivers electronic access to their health information and to allow them to share this information between their treatment team members.
The development of patient portals, electronic portals that allow patients online access to their provider’s medical record, empowers patients with information and increased their ability to make informed choices in how they receive their care. However, the ability of mental health patients to read their complete medical record is controversial with some providers claiming this may hurt the therapeutic relationship. Others fear they will be less candid in their clinical notes. Dr. Turvey discusses the pros and cons of providing patients full access to their clinical notes, concluding that mental health providers must be transparent about the care they provide their patients and work as equal partners in promoting patient health.
Patient portals are increasingly becoming the hub between the provider electronic health record and patient home monitoring through either wearable devices or patient-reported outcomes that can sync with the provider medical record. Portals serve as the bridge between clinic and home and, when harnessed creatively, can serve to promote patient self-management between sessions and maximize patient and provider collaboration in promoting patient health. Providing patients access to their health information is an important essential step in providing truly patient-centered care.
“Ultimately, patient centered medicine is about sharing information. It is also about respect and empathy.”Maggie Mahar
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
2013. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/2016ProgramRequirements.html
Delbanco, T., Walker, J., Bell, S. K., Darer, J. D., Elmore, J. G., Farag, N, … Leveille, S. G. (2012). Inviting patients to read their doctors’ notes: A quasi-experimental study and a look ahead. Annals of Internal Medicine, 157(7), 461–470.
Delbanco, T., Walker, J., Darer, J. D., Elmore, J. G., Feldman, H. J., Leveille, S. G., … Weber, V. D. (2010). Open notes: Doctors and patients signing on. Annals of Internal Medicine, 153(2), 121–125.
Increased patient participation with health IT. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/patient-participation
Nazi, K. M., Turvey, C. L., Klein, D. M., Hogan, T. P., & Woods, S. S. (2014). VA OpenNotes: Exploring the experiences of early patient adopters with access to clinical notes. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 22(2), 380–389.
Putting the I in HealthIT: Who is Pledging It? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/patients-families/pledge-info
Tang, P. C., Ash, J. S., Bates, D. W., Overhage, J. M., & Sands, D. Z. (2006). Personal health records: Definitions, benefits, and strategies for overcoming barriers to adoption. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 13(2), 121–126. PMID: 16357345; PMCID: 1447551.
Turvey, C., Klein, D., Fix, G., Hogan, T. P., Woods, S., Simon, S. R., … Nazi, K. (2014). Blue Button use by patients to access and share health record information using the Department of Veterans Affairs’ online patient portal. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(4), 657–663. PMID: 24740865; PMCID:4078285.
Why would I want to use the blue button. Retrieved July 4, 2013, from http://www.healthit.gov/bluebutton
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Turvey, C. (2017). Personal Health Records, Patient Portals, and Mental Healthcare. In: Maheu, M., Drude, K., Wright, S. (eds) Career Paths in Telemental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23736-7_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23736-7_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23735-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23736-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)