Call for greater use of e-records
Potential pitfalls and advantages of implementing personal electronic health records within the UK have been examined by a group of researchers.
The NHS website currently provides a link to Healthspace — an online
health record that allows patients to access their record of allergies,
drug treatments, summarised health records, medical appointments and
limited clinical data. However, use of this system is far less widespread
than
similar systems in the US and Europe.
The researchers suggest that expanding the use of Healthspace throughout
the UK would improve quality, safety and efficiency of care, although
they accept that there are technological issues and concerns over confidentiality
that still need to be overcome (BMJ 2007;335:330-3).
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Hospital
Pharmacist