News & Events
Published on Tuesday, June 19, 2007
On May 23rd the Kay Center for E-Health Research received a $73,327 grant from the Blue Shield of California Foundation in order to conduct research on the use of electronic personal health records (PHR) within diverse and underserved populations. This year long study, directed by Thomas A. Horan Ph.D., will evaluate the ability of community healthcare providers, in coordination with patients, to effectively implement PHR systems within populations who are low-income, minority status, and chronically ill.
Community clinics have been established throughout the US to provide health care services to vulnerable populations, including low-income, minority and chronically disabled residents. While IT systems are changing the delivery of private health care services, there has been scant attention to its use within a community setting. To date, most personal health record (PHR) research has focused on use by relatively affluent health care consumers (e.g., health plan subscribers). It has been identified, however, that some of the most important system impacts could occur by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of implementing such personal health systems within diverse and vulnerable populations.
Research activities will include investigation into current PHR applications and their use within vulnerable populations, interviews with experts in the field, including emergency, outpatient and clinical environments, and development of conceptual and evaluation models for use in evaluating new PHR systems in California as well as nationwide.
