The development of personal health record applications by companies outside the traditional healthcare arena is generating a lot of discussion. Some best and worst case scenarios are contributing to discussion, especially of the privacy issues.

In the USA in particular, people in the traditional healthcare provider and security fields are worried about the trend towards development of online personal and electronic records. A large part of the US worry is because these developments (especially ones such as Google Health and Microsoft Healthvault, developed by companies outside of the traditional healthcare sector) are seen to fall outside the bounds of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or other regulations.

As part of the ongoing discussion, The Journal of the (International Informatics Institute) recently published some best and worst case scenarios, looking forward to the effect of Google Health in 2018. While they are US-focused, international comparisons can be drawn - especially as anyone can set up a Googler Health account, you don't just have to be in the USA to have one. I have set up a Google Health account and am currently comparing it to the functionality, etc of my NHS Healthspace account.