Communication About Health Information Technology Use Between Patients and Providers
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Indiana University School of MedicineIndianapolis, IN, USA; 2Regenstrief Institute, Inc. and Indiana University Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research Indianapolis, IN, USA; 3Indiana University School of NursingIndianapolis, IN, USA; 4Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer CenterIndianapolis, IN, USA; 5Indiana University School of Public HealthIndianapolis, IN, USA; 6Indiana University Center for Survey ResearchIndianapolis, IN, USA; 7Indianapolis VA HSR&D Center for Health Information and CommunicationIndianapolis, IN, USA; 8The Ohio State University College of MedicineColumbus, OH, USA; 9The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer CenterColumbus, OH, USA.
BACKGROUND: Although growing, the prevalence of the use of health information technology (HIT) by patients to communicate with their providers is not well understood on the population level, nor whether patients are communicating with their providers about their use of HIT. OBJECTIVE: To understand whether patients are communicating with their providers about HIT use and the patient characteristics associated with the communication. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, self-administered survey of a sample of patients across the state of Indiana. PARTICIPANTS: Nine hundred seventy adult participants from across Indiana, 54% female and 79.5% white. MAIN MEASURES: The survey included sections assessing health information-seeking behavior, use of health information technology, and discussions with doctors about the use of HIT. KEY RESULTS: The survey had a 12% response rate. Sixty-three percent of respondent reported going to the Internet as the first source when seeking health information, while only 19% of respondent reported their doctor was their first source. When communicating with doctors electronically, 31% reported using an electronic health record messaging system, 24% used email, and 18% used text messaging. Only 39% of respondents reported having had any conversation about HIT use with their providers. CONCLUSIONS: There remain many unmet opportunities for patients and providers to communicate about HIT use. More guidance for patients and care teams may both help facilitate these conversations and promote optimal use, such as recommendations to ask simple clarification questions and minimize inefficient, synchronous communication when unnecessary. KEY WORDS: patient–provider communication; patient portal; health information technology .
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-020-05903-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Received November 7, 2019 Accepted May 4, 2020
J Gen Intern Med DOI: 10.1007/s11606-020-05903-1 © Society of General Internal Medicine 2020
BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE
Advances in health information technology (HIT) in the last two decades have transformed how patients and their care teams seek and access information, and how they communicate with each other. Many providers now grant patients access to patient
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