PHR Users Guide

Chapter 1

1. Overview and Background

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Personal Health Record (PHR) is a web-based software tool designed to be used by a patient or family caregiver. The PHR is supported “behind the scenes” by the clinical vocabulary standards that are NLM-supported and required by Meaningful Use of Electronic Medical Records (Stage 2) regulations to help with health information exchange.

  1. 1.1. Features and Capabilities

    • You can store and manage the health data – health conditions, medications, vaccine history, allergies, surgeries, etc. – for each of your family members. The PHR can yield a summary of key health data to unify the fragments and notes from different visits to different doctors and hospitals.
    • The PHR features auto-complete and synonyms for easier data entry.
    • You can track and graph laboratory test results to see improvements over time, relationships between activities and outcomes (for example, exercise and blood pressure), and areas that might need more attention.
    • You and your family members receive “smart” preventive health reminders, described in simple language based on national guidelines and specific to each PHR.
    • You can access trusted consumer health education resources about the medical conditions and medications of you and your family members through the user of the PHR’s information button.
    • You and your family members can prepare for doctor appointments by printing a PHR health summary and recording questions to ask the doctor.
    • Individual PHRs can be downloaded and exported to your computer.

  3. 1.2. Health Information That Can Be Recorded

    • Medical conditions
    • Medications
    • Allergies and other dangerous reactions
    • Major surgery and implants
    • Risk factors
    • Vaccinations
    • Questions to ask your doctor
    • Medical contacts
    • Laboratory tests and procedures
    • Personal health trackers

  5. 1.3. Privacy and Security

    The PHR employs strict privacy rules. No one can look at the data except you or those designated by you.

  6. 1.4. PHR Limitations

    • The PHR does not automatically link to the hospital’s medical record.
    • The PHR will allow you to pull in the summary of care documents that are supposed to be produced by hospitals and physicians although it is too early to tell if these will be well standardized and easy to import.

  7. 1.5. System Requirements

    1. 1.5.1. Operating Systems

      The PHR will work with the following operating systems:
      • Windows 8, 7, Vista, or XP
      • Macintosh OS X
      • Linux

    2. 1.5.2. Browsers

      The PHR will work with the following browsers:
      • Internet Explorer Version 9 or later
      • Mozilla Firefox
      • Google Chrome
      • Safari Version 5.0 or later (not extensively tested, but we believe it works with all of the PHR's features)

      Note: When accessing the PHR, you should avoid opening more than one instance of the PHR at the same time. Using multiple windows to view and enter data within the PHR may result in unexpected behavior such as errors when attempting to save data. This applies to both the basic and standard versions of the PHR.

    3. 1.5.3. Browser Settings

      • Enable JavaScript: Regardless of browser type, the browser must support JavaScript and your browser must be set to enable JavaScript. (Does not apply to Basic HTML Mode.)
      • Enable Session Cookies: You must also enable session cookies in the browser to use the PHR.

    4. 1.5.4. Accessibility

      To adjust the size of the PHR text, increase or decrease the zoom level of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari as follows:

      Keyboard

      • To zoom in, increasing the size of the text, press and hold CTRL while pressing +.
      • To zoom out, decreasing the size of the text, press and hold CTRL while pressing -.
      • To reset the size back to normal, press and hold CTRL while pressing 0.

      Mouse

      • If your mouse has a scroll wheel, press and hold CTRL while scrolling up to zoom in and down to zoom out.

      The PHR application is heavily dependent on JavaScript, graphics, and CSS for its user interface; however the PHR Has a Basic HTML mode that does not use JavaScript. To use the PHR with assistive technology such as screen readers, use the PHR’s Basic HTML Mode by clicking the Accessibility link at the bottom of the PHR Welcome page and then clicking on the Basic HTML mode link in the Help text.