While cringing at most news articles I read in the popular press that address PHRs, the LA Times published a thoughtful piece last week that’s worth reading.

I may quibble with some comments such as:

There are “at least 200 PHRs on the market”.  I’ve done a lot of digging and can’t come up with half that amount of viable PHRs.

Or quoting Deborah Peel of Patient Privacy that consumers should not use PHRs sponsored by insurers or employers.   This is simply too broad of a blanket statement and one needs to look closely at portability and privacy of such sponsored PHRs as not all are alike and many are worth participating in.

But by and large, the article does get it right, especially regarding the many flavors of PHRs in the market today.  The challenge for the consumer is trying to wade through the numerous choices to select the PHR most appropriate for their needs.  Unfortunately, the AHIMA, which has a website to educate the consumer on PHRs, does not provide this level of granularity to assist the consumer in their choices.  Hopefully, they recognize this shortfall and will rectify it in 2008.