Evaluation Framework for Personal Health Records: Microsoft HealthVault Vs. Google Health

Abstract

Personal health records (PHR) is a technology for managing the information playing field in healthcare. With multiple vendors competing on this relatively new market, an evaluation framework for end-user feature comparison can provide a foundation for system adoption decisions. Also it can serve as a starting point for requirements analysis for new systems. In this work we elicit a list of 25 end-user features, which in our view are necessary for a successful PHR implementation. We provide rationale for their inclusion as well as suggestions towards their realization. Using Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health, we test the suitability of our framework for evaluating the current two largest commercial PHR platforms.