Evaluation of personal health record systems through the lenses of EC research projects

Personal health record (PHR) systems are a rapidly expanding area in the field of health information technology which motivates an ongoing research towards their evaluation in several different aspects. In this direction, we present a systematic review of the currently available PHR systems. Initially, we define a clear and concise set of requirements for efficient PHR systems which is based on real-world implementation experiences of several European research projects and also on established and widely used formal standards. Subsequently, these requirements are used to perform a systematic evaluation of existing PHR system implementations. Our evaluation study provides a thorough requirement analysis and an insight on the current status of personal health record systems. The results of the present work can therefore be used as a basis for future evaluation studies which should be conducted periodically as technology evolves and requirements are revised.