The future of personal health records in the presence of misaligned incentives

Abstract

We posit that the emergence of the independent personal health record (PHR) platforms is potentially a major development toward the cause of digitizing healthcare. Not only do these platforms empower the patients by giving them complete control over their records, but they also can help promote the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) by healthcare providers. In a pluralistic healthcare system like that which exists in the United States, where many healthcare providers lack the incentive to adopt EHR and electronically share their patients' records with competing providers, we believe that PHR platforms can facilitate the adoption and use of EHRs in the healthcare sector. © 2012 by the Association for Information Systems.