Google Health and the Future of Personal Health Records - Case Study Example

Even Microsoft or Apple failed to recognize the opportunity provided by PHRs. It should be noted that Google was waiting for a breakthrough product to capture or regain market dominance. It should be noted that Google’s market share was considerably reduced in the recent past because of tight competition from prominent companies such as Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon etc. The offering of the cloud-based product Google Health in 2008 was received with high expectations. Many people though that Google at last succeeded in developing a breakthrough product to counter the challenges from competitors.

Nobody can blame the consumer expectation of this product, especially because it could represent a truly consumer based PHR, given the characteristics of the company behind its design. Google was successful in incorporating all the ingredients needed for a PHR system to Google health. Google’s market reputation was huge and nobody had any doubt about the capabilities of Google. Moreover the health care reform initiative in America is getting momentum after to Obama came into power. In short, the opportunity for Google health was huge.

Sometimes facts are stranger than fiction. In the case of Google Health, the above statement is absolutely true. On June 24th of 2011, Google Health crashed in its intent of positioning in the difficult PHR market, leaving behind many questions and some lessons for future entrants. This paper reviews and analyses the reasons why Google Health failed as a health information solution for consumer/patient healthcare information management and the future of PHRs. Archer (2011) mentioned that “Electronic personal health record systems (PHRs) support patient cantered healthcare by making medical records and other relevant information accessible to patients, thus assisting patients in health self-management” (Archer, 2011, p.515). Current