Establishing user requirements for a patient held electronic record system in the United Kingdom

In the UK, in emergency situations, health professionals rely on patients to provide information about their medical history. However, in some cases patients may not remember their medication, long term illnesses or allergies, or be able to communicate this information. As a national on-line integrated patient record system has not yet been etablished, a patient held electronic health record has been proposed. This paper summarizes the results of a survey to establish the public’s and health care professionals` requirements for such a system