A recent post on the potential of PHRs to serve the disadvantaged has generated a few comments, including one which asked if there were any published reports on the topic. One of the leading PHRs for serving this population subset is MiVIA. I contacted the CEO and founder, Cynthia Solomon asking her if there has been any published reports on the application of MiVIA within the migrant community of California.

Low and behold, one such paper (caution PDF) was just published in mid-August by two researchers out of Claremont Graduate School in California. I have just finished reviewing the paper and it is quite good providing further perspective on both the opportunities and challenges for implementation, adoption and use of PHRs not only within this sub-sector, but more broadly across all populations. Particularly fond of their reference to users as consumers and not the often used term, patients.

One quote:

Significantly, it has also been reported that between 42-45% of patients in use of PHIS say that the use of PHIS (Personal Health Information System) has improved communications with their doctor and other health care professionals (California HealthCare Foundation, 2008).

If you are even remotely interested in this issue, this paper provides some excellent background information that needs to be considered when pursuing such an activity.