Mobile personal health records may be on the uptick in the near future. But before consumers are able to access PHRs at their fingertips from virtually any location, there are some big barriers standing in the way, according to new research by Frost and Sullivan.

One of the biggest challenges, as researchers point out, is interoperability -- or, more accurately put, lack thereof. Traditionally, data collectors, such as providers, hospitals, physician specialty groups, labs, payers, government entities and imaging centers, have operated independently of each other, deploying unique IT infrastructures and fragmented patient record systems. 

However, the market will soon demand these mobile PHRs, officials say. First, patients are increasingly requesting online access to their personal health records via portals; second, the U.S. has become a mobile-driven society. But this may take time, as many vendors are slow to sign on. 

[See also: Kaiser PHR sees 4 million sign on, most active portal to date.]

"Two realities have emerged from widespread EHR deployment," said Patrick Riley, Frost & Sullivan Connected Health senior industry analyst, in an Oct. 22 news release. "Firstly, the host of available EHR systems lack interoperability and cannot communicate with one another, therefore failing to reach the goal of creating seamless, universal and secure access to individual health information. Secondly, the end user, or patient, does not own his or her health information, as this data is stored within the IT protocols of the EHR system, proprietary to providers, hospitals and health systems."

These challenges are reflected in the numbers. Just two years ago, only 7 percent of consumers had ever used a PHR, with more than half saying they were not using the mobile technology because they were unaware of how to use it, according to a survey by research firm IDC Health Insights. 

Even successful companies have struggled when testing out the waters in the PHR market. Back in 2011, Google opted to abandon its Google Health PHR service because not enough people were signing on.

[See also: Google Health shutdown spurs debate over PHR viability.]

"With a few years of experience, we’ve observed that Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would," wrote then senior product manager of Google Health Aaron Brown, in a blog post announcing the decision to scrap Google Health. "There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and more recently fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven’t found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people."