A Health Record That Belongs to the Patient: Can It Improve Family Medicine?A Review Using Ontomorph as a Case Example

Abstract

Family medicine is built on relationships. The family doctor knows the patient over time, across illnesses, and through different stages of life. Yet this relationship is often undermined by a health system that scatters patient information across hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and specialist offices. Records do not follow patients. Test results get lost. Medications are duplicated. The promise of the electronic health record, once seen as the solution to fragmentation, has not been fully realized in most settings.
This narrative review examines a different approach: health records that patients themselves own and control. Using Ontomorph as a case example, the article explores how a patient-owned health record works, what benefits it may bring to family medicine, and what problems it may create. Ontomorph is a digital platform that organizes all health data around the patient's body, stores it in an open format, and allows patients to grant or revoke access to their information. The review draws on recent literature to assess whether this model may reduce fragmented care, prevent repeated tests, and ensure that critical information is not missed. It also considers the limitations and challenges that family doctors should understand before adopting such systems.