The Personal Electronic Health Folder and the usefulness of electronic systems to improve health services

Continuity in patient healthcare shows significant gaps and variations, due to reduced communication between healthcare services. The information transfer to all stages of health structures is often inadequate with many variations, especially at the critical stage after discharge from the hospital, in which patients are usually more vulnerable. The major problem of the lack of interconnection between healthcare services occurs mainly among the elderly, the chronically ill and those who take a lot medication. The main effects of this problem are medication side effects, treatment overlap, poor quality of healthcare and financial costs. Enhancing communication, through the electronic interface and the use of the Personal Electronic Health Folder (P.E.H.F.), which will include the individual details of each patient and information about his clinical status, is aiming at the use of best practices for patient recovery by healthcare providers. The thorough literature review, the strategic analysis PESTEL and the control process, pointed out the need to use the P.E.H.F., to achieve substantial improvements in the quality of patient healthcare. With the practical use of P.E.H.F., the healthcare of all patients will be unquestionably, safe, effective, patient-centered, immediate and fair.