Unlocking the ‘Underutilised Workforce’: New Book Calls for True Patient-Centric Personal Health Records
A new book, ‘Personal Health Records for Governments (2025)’, reveals that while nearly every modern government acknowledges the necessity of patient access to their data, significant hurdles remain in achieving a comprehensive and effective Personal Health Record (PHR) system.
Co-authored by Dr. Mohammad Al Ubaydli and Federica Andreoni, ‘Personal Health Records for Governments (2025)’ addresses the mounting pressures facing healthcare systems worldwide, including aging populations, the rise of chronic diseases, and workforce shortages. The book’s research demonstrates a growing recognition among governments that activating citizens through access to personal health data is fundamental to sustainable 21st century healthcare.
The foreword is written by former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, whose country is widely regarded as a leader in digital health. Estonia has successfully overcome one of the biggest challenges faced by most nations – data fragmentation – by standardizing medical data and exchange protocols. From birth, every Estonian citizen has a personal health record, with 100% of the country’s 1.3 million citizens having documents in the central database and all prescriptions issued electronically.
Reviewing the PHR initiatives of 16 countries, the book analyses their development, implementation, and the remaining critical gaps. While significant progress has been made in consolidating data from public healthcare providers, the book highlights an almost universal failure to fully integrate data from private providers, patient-contributed information, and devices:
- Patient Input: Few countries enable patients to contribute their own health data, limiting their role in self-management.
- Devices: Integration of data from wearable devices is notably absent in most national PHR systems.
- Communication: Most systems lack communication features for interaction between patients and healthcare professionals.
Dr. Al Ubaydli, CEO and Founder of Patients Know Best, commented, "Governments are recognising the importance of patient data access, which is a vital step. But to truly activate the 'underutilized workforce' – the patients themselves – we must enable them to contribute their own health information. This is the missing piece in national PHR architectures and core to a truly patient centric model where the citizen can become a provider in their own care.’
Henrique Martins, former co-chair of the EU eHealth Network and former president of Portugal’s Digital Health Agency (SPMS), praised the book, stating, “It took me 10 years to gain as much knowledge about PHRs for national-level services as it is condensed in one third of this book. Great read for any high-level digital health person worldwide.”
‘Personal Health Records for Governments (2025)’ aims to facilitate knowledge sharing among governments, enabling them to learn from each other's experiences and accelerate the development of truly comprehensive and patient-centred PHRs. It is available on Amazon from Monday 24th March.
