The good: Personal health records include a lot of personal information related to your health. This information can include things like your doctor information, allergies, medicine you're taking, health problems, surgeries, immunizations, etc. Having this information on you can bring many benefits for people whether they're in an emergency and the information is needed in a moments notice or they're at a doctor appointment and it's conveniently available to share since it's all in one place and you don't have to rely merely on your memory. Having access to your personal health records also allows you the convenience of tracking and assessing your health, they help with organization, and help you keep track of your health in between doctor visits.
The ugly: There are privacy and security risks that accompany personal health records. Having this written information on you means that it could get lost or stolen and having it online means that people can hack the website and access the information illegally. There are federal laws that protect the security of your personal health information, but this doesn't mean that it's completely secure. To ensure that the electronic system you're using for your personal health records is safe you can research it. Reputable companies follow best practices and will make their privacy policies public and submit to monitoring by independent organizations.
Personal health records and patient portals. (2017, July 06). Retrieved October 25, 2018, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/personal-health-record/art-20047273
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