Personal health records (PHRs) offer patients the opportunity to be more actively involved in their own care. There is limited research into the application during hospital admissions for elective or emergency presentations. We used techniques from scenario-based design to test the opportunities and boundaries of a commercially available PHR in a simulated environment. Scenarios included a patient in his 80s admitted for hip surgery with his son, and a younger patient admitted with pneumonia. A catastrophic deterioration was demonstrated with a mannequin in a high-fidelity simulation. Workflows were summarised in swim-lane diagrams. The PHR allowed patients to file information prior to the interaction with the clinical team. This led to shorter time requirements for acquisition of data. The elderly patient required assistance from a relative but this aided verification of history prior to the encounter with the clinical team. Ward rounds could be prepared by the patient with specific 'what matters' questions. Documentation in the PHR environment during a simulated life-threatening emergency did not result in information that was unintelligible or useful for the 'patient'. Usage of a commercially available PHR during hospital admission is feasible and might aid workflow. Documentation of emergencies might require different documentation formats.
