Connecting PHRs and EHRs for a Sustainable National Health System.

An EHR for integrated care (IEHR) is defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) [1]: "...a repository of information regarding the health status of a subject of care, in computer processable form, stored and transmitted securely, and accessible by multiple authorised users, having a standardized or commonly agreed logical information model that is independent of EHR systems and whose primary purpose is the support of continuing, efficient and quality integrated health care. It contains information which is retrospective, concurrent and prospective." We need to differentiate between EMR/EHR and the lifelong PHR in terms of type of data storage, sharing and use [2-3].