BOSTON – Personal health information networks are likely to prove better models for health data exchange than regional health information organizations, or RHIOs, speakers said Tuesday at a world conference on interoperability in Boston.

The personal health record platforms, such as those provided by Microsoft, Google and Dossia, provide hope for the exchange of health information sooner than could be achieved by RHIOs, said R. Tim McNamar, founder and chief executive officer of e-certus Inc., at the 3rd Annual Leadership Summit on the Road to Interoperability.

"There's no viable model for RHIOs," he said.

McNamar, a Republican and former member of the Reagan administration, criticized President George W. Bush for failing to provide the leadership for interoperability.

In discussing personal health information networks in an earlier session, Vince Kuraitis, a lawyer and principal of Better Health Technologies, said companies would begin to build applications for platforms such as Google Health, Microsoft's HealthVault and Dossia.

"This will look more like a telephone network," Kuraitis said.

David Kibbe, MD, senior adviser to the American Academy of Family Physicians, said, "We can't expect government to build a network. Government didn't build the Internet. Government didn't build PCs."

The interoperable health data exchange network will not be led by large institutions, he added. "It's you and me, in other words."