According to the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society less than 1 percent (0.1%) of hospitals have a paperless shared electronic health record (EHR). Although almost 67 percent of hospitals have some degree of EHR in place, few have a system that allows patients and their physicians unfettered (but yet protected) access to essential, often crucial information about the patient’s health status. The Obama administration’s plan to fund EHR activities is a positive move towards making the universal EHR a national standard. However, given the current lack of adequate preparedness of most healthcare providers, the goal is unlikely to be accomplished before President Obama completes his second term in office. For the average healthcare consumer, the message is to act now on obtaining their health information and keeping it in an electronic format to be shared with all providers who treat you. The personal health record (PHR) is not a substitute for the EHR, but it does fill a gap. More importantly, it empowers each of us, as patients, in having control and knowledge over an essential part of our healthcare. Today, it is our responsibility to make sure that all of our healthcare providers have the information they need to provide us with the best possible healthcare. Except in highly integrated systems like Cleveland Clinic or the Mayo Clinic, we cannot assume that a specialist has access to information from our primary care visits. At least for now, that’s the patient’s responsibility…….

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