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Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records
BACKGROUND: Electronic health information (eHealth) tools for patients, including patient-accessible electronic medical records (patient portals), are proliferating in health care delivery systems nationally. However, there has been very limited study of the perceived utility and functionality of po...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
JMIR Publications Inc.
2013
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758049/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23978618 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2507 |
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author | Zarcadoolas, Christina Vaughon, Wendy L Czaja, Sara J Levy, Joslyn Rockoff, Maxine L |
author_facet | Zarcadoolas, Christina Vaughon, Wendy L Czaja, Sara J Levy, Joslyn Rockoff, Maxine L |
author_sort | Zarcadoolas, Christina |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Electronic health information (eHealth) tools for patients, including patient-accessible electronic medical records (patient portals), are proliferating in health care delivery systems nationally. However, there has been very limited study of the perceived utility and functionality of portals, as well as limited assessment of these systems by vulnerable (low education level, racial/ethnic minority) consumers. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify vulnerable consumers’ response to patient portals, their perceived utility and value, as well as their reactions to specific portal functions. METHODS: This qualitative study used 4 focus groups with 28 low education level, English-speaking consumers in June and July 2010, in New York City. RESULTS: Participants included 10 males and 18 females, ranging in age from 21-63 years; 19 non-Hispanic black, 7 Hispanic, 1 non-Hispanic White and 1 Other. None of the participants had higher than a high school level education, and 13 had less than a high school education. All participants had experience with computers and 26 used the Internet. Major themes were enhanced consumer engagement/patient empowerment, extending the doctor’s visit/enhancing communication with health care providers, literacy and health literacy factors, improved prevention and health maintenance, and privacy and security concerns. Consumers were also asked to comment on a number of key portal features. Consumers were most positive about features that increased convenience, such as making appointments and refilling prescriptions. Consumers raised concerns about a number of potential barriers to usage, such as complex language, complex visual layouts, and poor usability features. CONCLUSIONS: Most consumers were enthusiastic about patient portals and perceived that they had great utility and value. Study findings suggest that for patient portals to be effective for all consumers, portals must be designed to be easy to read, visually engaging, and have user-friendly navigation. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3758049 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2013 |
publisher | JMIR Publications Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-37580492013-08-30 Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records Zarcadoolas, Christina Vaughon, Wendy L Czaja, Sara J Levy, Joslyn Rockoff, Maxine L J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Electronic health information (eHealth) tools for patients, including patient-accessible electronic medical records (patient portals), are proliferating in health care delivery systems nationally. However, there has been very limited study of the perceived utility and functionality of portals, as well as limited assessment of these systems by vulnerable (low education level, racial/ethnic minority) consumers. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to identify vulnerable consumers’ response to patient portals, their perceived utility and value, as well as their reactions to specific portal functions. METHODS: This qualitative study used 4 focus groups with 28 low education level, English-speaking consumers in June and July 2010, in New York City. RESULTS: Participants included 10 males and 18 females, ranging in age from 21-63 years; 19 non-Hispanic black, 7 Hispanic, 1 non-Hispanic White and 1 Other. None of the participants had higher than a high school level education, and 13 had less than a high school education. All participants had experience with computers and 26 used the Internet. Major themes were enhanced consumer engagement/patient empowerment, extending the doctor’s visit/enhancing communication with health care providers, literacy and health literacy factors, improved prevention and health maintenance, and privacy and security concerns. Consumers were also asked to comment on a number of key portal features. Consumers were most positive about features that increased convenience, such as making appointments and refilling prescriptions. Consumers raised concerns about a number of potential barriers to usage, such as complex language, complex visual layouts, and poor usability features. CONCLUSIONS: Most consumers were enthusiastic about patient portals and perceived that they had great utility and value. Study findings suggest that for patient portals to be effective for all consumers, portals must be designed to be easy to read, visually engaging, and have user-friendly navigation. JMIR Publications Inc. 2013-08-26 /pmc/articles/PMC3758049/ /pubmed/23978618 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2507 Text en ©Christina Zarcadoolas, Wendy L Vaughon, Sara J Czaja, Joslyn Levy, Maxine L Rockoff. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 26.08.2013. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. |
spellingShingle | Original Paper Zarcadoolas, Christina Vaughon, Wendy L Czaja, Sara J Levy, Joslyn Rockoff, Maxine L Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records |
title | Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records |
title_full | Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records |
title_fullStr | Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records |
title_full_unstemmed | Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records |
title_short | Consumers' Perceptions of Patient-Accessible Electronic Medical Records |
title_sort | consumers' perceptions of patient-accessible electronic medical records |
topic | Original Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758049/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23978618 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2507 |
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