The thwarted lives of the shared medical record (DMP)

This article traces the still little-known history of the shared medical record (DMP) by analysing the representations, decisions and practices that have governed its many development projects at national level, from its creation in the 2000s to its recent integration into the “Mon espace santé” portal, which came to fruition in 2022. From an analytical perspective, the DMP should be seen as an innovation whose trajectory, and in particular its extraordinary genesis, warrants retracing. The shared medical record has been characterised by cyclical phases of problems, suspensions and relaunches, and, twenty years after its inception, it remains unstable and has yet to fully achieve its initial objectives. By paying attention to the multiple timeframes of the innovation process, the analysis brings to light the two main conceptions of health IT that have underpinned the development of the DMP. It also highlights the importance of the political and institutional context, the instability of the project’s governance and the role played by several of its players, which contributed to hampering the implementation efforts undertaken.