Adding Affordances and Communication Efficacy to the Technology Acceptance Model to Study the Messaging Features of Online Patient Portals among Young Adults

Towards Understanding Disparities in Using Technology to Access Health Care Information: African American Veterans' Sociocultural Perspectives on Using My HealtheVet for Diabetes Management

The digital divide, a racial disparity in computer and internet use, persists among Veterans. This study examined African American Veterans' experiences with and attitudes about using My HealtheVet (MHV), the online patient portal used in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 non-Hispanic African American Veterans about preferences for health information, use of web-enabled devices, and experiences with and preferences for using MHV. Twenty-nine men and 6 women, ranging 35 to 73 years old, participated in this study. About 75% (n = 26) had completed some college or more, and about 75% (n = 26) considered their families financially comfortable. Ninety-one percent (n = 32) of participants were aware of MHV, and 78% (n = 25) of those who were aware reported having enrolled for an account. Data revealed participants valued that MHV provided realistic solutions to cumbersome aspects (e.g., phone call hold-times) of receiving care at the VA. However, participants admitted to not using the patient portal at all or to its full potential for two reasons: a) preference for their pre-MHV routine, b) distrust in the institutional, technological, and organizational aspects surrounding MHV. By highlighting the sociocultural aspects of patient portal use, this study provides a meaningful explanation for barriers and facilitators of health information technology adoption, particularly for MHV among African American Veterans, and ways practitioners may influence uptake.

Social media enabled interactions in healthcare: Towards a taxonomy

Healthcare users and providers increasingly utilize social media to interact with one another. For a future understanding of when and how these interactions supplement or replace offline doctor-patient interactions, it is essential to understand who interacts, about what, and how these interactions can be categorized in a taxonomy. We draw on affordance theory and employ a mixed-methods approach to study social media interactions among healthcare users and providers. We first engage in qualitative content analysis, which is followed by cluster analysis. We identify five archetypal interactions and categorize these in a taxonomy that adds to current literature on how social media is utilized in the healthcare context. We also provide a clear and systematic overview of the interactions in different social media categories that can stimulate future research regarding doctor-patient interactions. Furthermore, we identify a new and distinct type of social media enabled interaction in healthcare, namely lifestyle support, focusing on prevention.