Personal health record vendors have begun marketing their products to employers and insurers, rather than consumers, in the hopes of expanding PHR adoption, according to a recent study by Chilmark Research, an industry analyst, the American Medical News reports.
John Moore, the study's author, said that until recently, PHR vendors were marketing their PHRs to consumers, who expressed little interest in the products.
The study found that only 20% of the nearly 200 PHR products on the market are hosted online, and of those, 40% are thriving, while 25% are close to failure.
However, employers and insurers are beginning to see the potential for PHRs to reduce health care costs and are offering incentives for their use, according to Moore. Vendors are now focusing on strategic alliances with employers and health plans.
Moore said PHRs still need increased privacy and security functions to be cleared before consumers begin providing their personal information. He added that early PHR offerings lacked the ability to connect and share data with other systems.
However, Moore said the entrance of Google and Microsoft into the PHR field could help raise consumers' expectations (Lewis Dolan, American Medical News, 7/7).