Does Access to an EHR Patient Portal Influence Chronic Disease Outcomes?

The specific aims of the study are to determine if e-portal interventions influence:

• Measures of patient activation, patient self-management, treatment adherence, patient satisfaction with care, and disease specific knowledge.
• Process measures relevant to appropriate care for CVD, CHF, and DM.
• Clinical markers of cardiovascular or diabetes morbidity and risk.

These aims will be evaluated in one-year prospective study. Patients who use the portal will be randomized to control (i.e., access to routine portal-related information) and intervention groups (i.e., targeted and periodic messages designed to capture data relevant to self-management; to improve knowledge of their specific disease, tests, and risks; to devise time-dependent goals; and to motivate self-efficacy). Outcomes including activation, satisfaction, and adherence will be measured by telephone interview prior to and one year after intervention, and by lab and clinical measures and data available from the EHR. We will also evaluate potential selection issues among those who sign on to the e-portal by administering the same baseline interview to a matched (by disease and by age) random sample of patients who do not sign on to the e-portal.

Patients with chronic diseases are likely to experience particular benefit from online e-health resources as they have greater information needs and participate in self-management.(Camer, 2000) Unlike traditional office visits, online interactions eliminate the need to travel, are always available and give the patient access to a broad range of information, helping them actively participate in their own care.(Brown, 1999) There is growing evidence that patient education and engagement using e-health applications results in improved patient outcomes in the care of chronic illnesses, improved patient-physician communication, and reduction of anxiety for caregivers.(Brennan et al., 2001; Bronson et al., 1986; Bronson & O'Meara, 1986; Ross et al., 2003a, 2003b) We anticipate demonstrating clinically meaningful improvements in chronic disease health status, using evidence-based science delivered in behaviorally-validated ways.