Navigating towards self-care: The Catalan Public Patient-Oriented Portal

This chapter presents the genesis and evolution of the public patient portal called Carpeta Personal de Salut (CPS) of Catalonia, Spain. Our account of the CPS covers the period 2008 to 2015. The CPS gives citizens secure and confidential access to their health data (generated in the public health system). The case narrative shows how the installed base was gradually extended with new partners and services aiming to increase the value and usefulness of the infrastructure in order to attract more users. The reminder of the chapter is structured as follows. In the next two sections, we present the Catalan healthcare model and the installed base of IT systems. This is followed by our narrative of the case. Next we discuss the implications of our findings.