Wrong Technology or Wrong Business Model? Revolution Health Ends PHR

Chris Tsai | February 2, 2010

On Jan. 28, 2010, Revolution Health emailed its personal health records (PHR) users that the service will end in February.

“Thank you for being a loyal user of the Revolution Health Personal Health Record,” stated the e-mail. “Unfortunately we will be discontinuing this service as of the end of February 2010 and removing all records, information, and data from the Revolution Health Web site.” It was suggested that users download their records for future reference.

While no explanation was offered to its users, Marjorie Martin, the general manager for Everyday Health, the parent company, provided several explanations for the PHR disappearance the next day.

Learn why Revolution Health ended its PHR after the break.

A key factor was low utilization. Revolution Health had hundreds of PHR users but not the thousands expected. “Most users still rely on their physicians to do the record-keeping,” Martin said. “They don’t feel the need to make a change. Also, it’s still a fairly laborious experience.” She noted that Cleveland Clinic’s PHR, in conjunction with Google Health, is one of the few examples of PHR success.

Martin explained that the PHR also suffered from inadequate usability testing prior to offering the product, a consumer audience not ready to control their own records, and the need for more physician involvement.

Founded in 2007 by Steve Case, Revolution Health merged with Waterfront Media in late 2008. Many analysts viewed the merger as an attempt to compete with WebMD. The PHR announcement comes only a few days after Everyday Health filed with the SEC an initial public offering (IPO) of $100M.

Source: Healthcare IT News

Share/Save/Bookmark
Companies
Industries

4 Responses to “Wrong Technology or Wrong Business Model? Revolution Health Ends PHR”

  1. The obesity backlash begins: MedCity Morning Read, Feb. 3, 2010 : MedCity News Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 9:21 am

    [...] No more, according to a report from Care Innovators. Citing low consumer demand, Revolution Health has dropped its PHRs, informing users that it’ll discontinue the service this month. A manager with the company “explained that the PHR suffered from inadequate usability testing prior to offering the product, a consumer audience not ready to control their own records, and the need for more physician involvement.” Share and Enjoy: [...]

  2. The obesity backlash begins: MedCity Morning Read, Feb. 3, 2010 | CLENOUGH Says:
    February 3rd, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    [...] No more, according to a report from Care Innovators. Citing low consumer demand, Revolution Health has dropped its PHRs, informing users that it’ll discontinue the service this month. A manager with the company “explained that the PHR suffered from inadequate usability testing prior to offering the product, a consumer audience not ready to control their own records, and the need for more physician involvement.” [...]

  3. Ann Diulio Says:
    February 19th, 2010 at 11:41 am

    Great blog. Keep up the good writing.

  4. Norberto Lenoir Says:
    February 25th, 2010 at 3:17 am

    Skillfully well researched topic. good this info.

Leave a Reply

All Industries
Consulting
Long-Term Care Facilities
Home Health Care
Health Services & Providers
Medical Equipment
Medical Devices
Mobile & Wireless
Consumer Health
Health Information Exchange
Personal Health Record
Electronic Medical Record
Health IT
Diagnostics
Medical Research
Contract Research
Drug Development
Drug Delivery
Biotech & Life Sciences
Pharmaceutical
Health Plans
Government
Nonprofit
Uncategorized
Filtering website by:

Bloggers Needed For

Featured articles

Most Popular Most Discussed Most Shared

Tags