A paradigm shift involving patient access to personal health records (PHRs) via Internet-based electronic medical records (EMRs) is in full swing according to a recent report by Kalorama Information, Rockville, Md.

The report, “U.S. Markets for EMR Technology,” examines how the focus of ownership of medical records is shifting from one that is distributed among various healthcare providers to one that is shared and controlled by both the patient and the provider.

“The driver for EMR sales has always been hospital-side, as in ‘this can reduce your costs,’” says Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama. “That’s still true, but with PHRs, the driver is also on the consumer side, as in ‘this can make your organization friendlier to healthcare consumers.’”

As of 2007, there were 787,000 office-based physicians and 5,708 hospitals in the nation. Total EMR implementation costs are estimated between $68 billion and $255 billion. Kalorama forecasts the EMR market to grow by 14.1 percent annually through 2012, from $9.5 billion in 2007.