Nine research teams from across the country on Sept. 17 unveiled innovative prototypes of personal health record (PHR) applications that provide a glimpse of the “next generation” of PHRs. The prototypes range from a medication management system to help children with cystic fibrosis manage their disease (housed in an age-appropriate form, like a stuffed animal or cell phone), to a sophisticated “conversational assistant,” a computerized tool that helps people with congestive heart failure manage their health from home through a series of voice-activated questions and responses that they can quickly share with their medical providers.
The nine design teams are supported by Project HealthDesign, a $5-million national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Each team created applications that help move the perception of PHRs from static repositories of health information to dynamic, tailored applications that allow people to easily and actively manage their health as they go about their daily lives. The project also ensured that these PHR tools can readily share common technical functions and operate on a common technology platform.
Over the next several months, the grantee teams will work to publish details about their findings, as well as extend the use of their applications to the clinical practices connected to their institutions. Read the press release.
