Lessons learned from a health record bank start-up

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Health Record Banking
• Consumer Health Data Management

Background:

• A health record bank (HRB) was established in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2010 with the goal of enrolling 200,000 members within the first year.
• The business model focused on early consumer and physician adoption, with future revenue from incremental services and secondary data uses, always requiring member permission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the Phoenix HRB initiative.
• To identify challenges encountered during the HRB's operation.
• To derive actionable lessons for future health record bank ventures.

Main Methods:

• Described HRB staffing, computational platform development, marketing strategies, and physician engagement tactics.
• Outlined the governance model established for HRB design and implementation.
• Focused on a community-based approach to health record banking.

Main Results:

• The Phoenix HRB experiment failed to achieve sufficient member enrollment and was discontinued in April 2011.
• Despite marketing efforts and a defined financial strategy, the project did not meet its enrollment targets.
• Limited consumer advertising and physician engagement were noted as contributing factors.

Conclusions:

• Undercapitalization was the primary issue, but the project highlighted the need for free basic HRB accounts for members.
• Physician engagement is critical for effective marketing and adoption of health record banking.
• Sufficient population size and local governance are essential for the long-term sustainability and trustworthiness of HRBs.