Adoption of Online Consumer Tools
July 9, 2008
There is a new report from the California HealthCare Foundation titled, “Helping Patients Plug in:Lessons on the Adoption of online Consumer Tools.” The report is based on research with several healthcare organizations in different settings and regions. This timely evaluation of PHRs and other tools showing how the consumer demand for these tools is high while availability is low, such as, for online access to one’s medical records. They also note that even “safety net populations” have access to the Internet and are interested in these tools. They point out gaps in information, for instance information exchange between physicians to facilitate diagnosis and treatment and missed opportunities in community health centers to make computers and emailing physicians available. This may be an opportunity for more federal funding. Even when PHRs and other tools are available, adoption is low. In some areas, offering free support for these tools has helped but the report notes that there are still policy and technological challenges to overcome.
Just a note about terminology. This article uses the acronym PCHIT, or patient-center healthcare information technology and not the term eHealth which continues to be popular in Europe but no longer in the U.S. Some use Health 2.0 as the current term for eHealth with a focus on Web 2.0 technology.
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