This ER Physician likes PHRs, His Records are implanted in a chip from his military days

This physician has also been on the ground working during hurricanes too, thus he can pretty much tell it like it is. The article states now it is time for the individuals and physicians to move forward. He’s not recommending a chip for everyone, but rather some type of personal record. He wears dog tags to direct people to how to find a reader for his chip, so the chip in this instance could be somewhat of an additional step.

The PHR is not gaining from the stimulus bill, but as a bi-product will continue to grow. I like the terminology used here when comparing EHRs and PHRs, the EHR being the front end and the PHR, being the back end. The PHR is much more valuable when fed the information from an EHR and credible vendors or medical devices that automate the process. BD

It should come as no surprise that Maurice Ramirez -- an emergency room attending physician with Florida Hospital's Flagler division -- is in favor of widespread adoption of automated personal health records, or PHRs.

Ramirez was once chief medical officer for a company that was developing such an application, but that's not his only reference point. He has also been on the ground in the wake of many disasters, including the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, which struck Galveston, Texas, last year.

What the medical industry is hoping is that as the stimulus drives more investment in the back end -- that is, EMR systems -- more private sector companies will be willing to invest in the PHRs in the front end. Certainly, demand for these applications will rise as more consumers see what they can do.