Home

Cover Story

Table of Contents

E-Newsletter

Article Archive

Editorial Calendar

Datebook

Writers' Guidelines

Orgs/Links

Opinion Polls

Reprints

Search

Nov. 7 - HL7 Releases Ballot for Personal Health Record Functional Model

Health Level Seven (HL7) announced the release of a ballot to approve its Personal Health Record System Functional Model (PHR-S FM) as a Draft Standard for Trial Use (DSTU).

HL7 invites the public to vote on the PHR-S Functional Model to ensure that a broad range of industry stakeholders’ interests is considered. The voting period began November 2, 2007 and will continue through December 1, 2007. Members and non-members of HL7 can vote. There is an administrative fee for those who are not members of HL7. The model and the ballot package can be downloaded here after following the Online Balloting link.

The PHR-S FM defines a set of functions that may be present in PHR systems, and offers guidelines that facilitate health information exchange among different PHR systems and between PHR and EHR systems. The PHR-S FM can be applied to specific PHR models (stand-alone, web-based, provider-based, payer-based, or employer-based models). At the same time, the Functional Model is flexible enough to encourage product innovation.

The PHR-S Functional Model serves a variety of purposes. “It can identify to consumers the important functions within a PHR system that can help them make better health decisions,” said Donald T. Mon, PhD, vice president of practice leadership, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and co-chair of the HL7 PHR Work Group. “The model also contains requirements to protect the privacy of the individual, and the confidentiality of personal health information.”

While the PHR-S FM is not yet a fully ANSI-accredited standard, a Draft Standard for Trial Use (DSTU) version allows the industry to work with a stable standard for up to two years while it is being refined into an ANSI-accredited version.

During the period of trial use:
* Consumers can begin requesting such functionality when they select PHR systems for their use.
* Vendors can begin incorporating the model’s requirements into their products.
* Organizations that desire to provide certifications of PHR systems (such as the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology) can begin considering these requirements for certification.

Source: HL7

(View the Daily News Archive)