“…Google through its brand strength and consumer reach is likely to have the most impact upon the industry and bring PHRs into the living room of the population…”

Datamonitor believes that Google’s entry into PHRs means that PHRs will become a success and result in consumers becoming more knowledgable about their own health. While other companies have developed PHRs, the significance of Google’s entry cannot be underestimated. Primarily this is because of the unparalleled reach that Google has into consumers, especially those under the age of 30.
PHRs, and Google’s entry, are a product of consumers becoming more powerful within healthcare – this is a result of the internet and patients entering the physician’s surgery more knowledgable than ever before. The move by Google into the market is particularly significant because it is one of the most powerful and well known consumer brands in existence today. While Google will not be able to purely depend upon its branding to ensure the success of its PHR product – the history of its other products to date stands Google in good stead as does its consumer reach through its search engine and e-mail.

Some in the industry may be concerned that Google will move further into the healthcare space. However, Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, stated at HIMSS that Google had no intention of entering further into healthcare beyond PHRs – for example by developing their own electronic healthcare record (EHR). It is unlikely that Google will expand its business further into healthcare, primarily because it would require an adjustment to its pricing model – and move away from being a pure consumer centric product.

The success of PHRs is going to be dependent on their ability to become interoperable with EHRs – this is important both for PHR and EHR vendors. As consumers increasingly use Google’s PHR, and other vendors’ PHRs, they will expect their healthcare provider to have interoperability between their PHR and the healthcare provider’s EHR. A failure to be interoperable could result in the patient moving to a healthcare provider that is able to provide this service. Thus both EHR vendors and systems integrators should work towards ensuring interoperability between EHRs and PHRs.

Furthermore, there is opportunity for traditional vendors to offer their own PHR within the space as an alternative to Google. While Google has been a great success some consumers are suspicious of the company and their use of data. As a result there will be opportunities within the market for multiple PHRs to exist alongside each other. However, it is Google through its brand strength and consumer reach that is likely to have the most impact upon the industry and bring PHRs into the living room of the population.

Related research: Healthcare Technology Opportunities in the Electronic Health Record Market