Following near-record attendance at HIMSS09 last month, it seems most of the health IT industry is focused on how ARRA funds will be used to get physicians to adopt electronic medical records. But as a recent article in Health Plan Week points out, the bigger question relates to how the industry will bring together the different health records now being used by physicians, payers, hospitals and consumers in a way that creates a truly integrated electronic environment.

Right now, health plans are using a variety of electronic strategies, including provider-patient communications tools, payer-provider connectivity systems, e-prescribing and financial incentives to drive physicians deeper into the electronic health environment.

Aetna, for instance, actively encourages physicians to use EMRs and other electronic tools, but the company is investing heavily in PHRs and surrounding IT infrastructure because they serve as a conduit between different points of care and, ultimately, the company feels it can make faster progress with PHRs than EMRs.

The payer isn’t alone in focusing on bridging the flow of information among the various healthcare entities. Last week, Madison N.J.-based Quest Diagnostics struck a deal with Microsoft HealthVault that will allow patients and physicians to share diagnostic laboratory test results online.

Physicians who use the Care360 patient-centric portal from Quest Diagnostics—roughly 140,000 nationwide—can now transfer test results in a HIPAA-compliant format to a protected account per patient request. Patients will be able to use this account to view past and present diagnostic laboratory records from their physicians.

With diagnostic testing forming the foundation of a patient's health record—informing an estimated 70 percent of healthcare decisions that physicians make on behalf of their patients—Quest Diagnostics, Microsoft, Aetna and others are zeroing-in on doctor-patient interactions with an eye toward boosting outcomes.

Although PHRs have been slow to catch on, research from The Markle Foundation suggests most Americans would like to have more control over their medical information, with a majority implying that having medical records accessible through an online platform provides that control.

I’ve written on several occasions that we can’t underestimate the role played by the healthcare consumer in driving health IT adoption, so I’m curious to see if the market for PHRs and related IT will, in fact, offer vendors and payers better leverage for speedy progress than the EMR space is offering.