Personal Health Assessment (PHA)

Reaching your health goals begins with a better understanding of what your health status and risks are today. The Personal Health Assessment (PHA) is an online questionnaire about your well-being and lifestyle that is designed to provide a more complete picture of your health. It will be used to help you and your health care provider create a plan to improve the quality of your life, increase your energy, and potentially reduce your risks for certain health conditions. Developed by The Ohio State University Medical Center, the PHA is voluntary, confidential, and easy to complete.

What Do I Need to Do?

We encourage all faculty and staff who are eligible for Ohio State’s medical plan benefits, along with their covered dependents age 18 or older, to take the PHA annually. Here’s how:

• Step 1: Set up a PatientLink account.
• Step 2: Know your health numbers.
• Step 3: Complete the PHA.
• Step 4: Print out the results.

Step 1: Set up a PatientLink account at http://patientlink.osumc.edu (if you have not previously done so). PatientLink is an OSU Medical Center web site that provides access to the Personal Health Assessment (PHA).

• On the PatientLink homepage, click on this link: “To sign up for PatientLink, you can set up an account by requesting one here.”
• Follow the prompts to create your PatientLink account.
  • You’ll be asked to provide an e-mail address that will become the login for your account. This can be either a personal e-mail address or your university e-mail address (e.g., name.#@osu.edu). Note: OSU Medical Center employees cannot use a medical center e-mail address (e.g., firstname.lastname@osumc.edu).
  • Each individual must provide a unique e-mail address. If you use a personal e-mail address, your spouse or dependents cannot use the same e-mail address to establish PatientLink accounts for themselves.
• In most cases, you’ll receive a message that you have immediate access to the PHA once you set up your PatientLink account. In a limited number of cases, you may have to wait a day or two so that your information can be matched to your OSU Medical Center records or so that a medical record number can be assigned to you.
• If you need help setting up your PatientLink account or have technical difficulties, call 877-293-1701 (toll free) or 614-293-1701 between noon and 9 p.m. Monday–Friday and 9 a.m. and noon Saturday.

Top

Step 2: Know your health numbers. It’s critical that you know your health data, including your blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, weight, and height. Ohio State employees can get this information at screenings offered on campus and at wellness events sponsored by the OSU Faculty and Staff Wellness Program. Be sure to bring your PatientLink e-mail address to the screening.

Click here for screening dates and locations near you.

Note: If you’ve had a physical in the last 12 months and can obtain a record of the health data results requested in the PHA (weight, height, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose), you can use those numbers when you fill out the questionnaire in Step 3. Click here (261kb pdf) for a form you can print out and take to your physician to obtain your health data.

Top

Step 3: Complete the PHA after your health screening via the PatientLink web site at http://patientlink.osumc.edu . The questionnaire should take about 20 minutes to complete. You can save an incomplete PHA for up to 30 days and return later to finish it. However, once you submit your data, you cannot access it again to complete or change your answers.

Top

Step 4: Print out the results. Your PHA will provide a summary of your risks, as well as recommendations for staying healthy. Be sure to print your PHA report or “save as a file” on your computer so you can share with your health care provider.

Top

Still have questions about taking the PHA? The online “how to” presentations make it easy by taking you through the process step by step. Click here to view.

Top