Consumer Health Informatics: Promoting Patient Self-care Management of Illnesses and Health

Early experiences with patient generated health data: health system and patient perspectives

OBJECTIVE

Although patient generated health data (PGHD) has stimulated excitement about its potential to increase patient engagement and to offer clinicians new insights into patient health status, we know little about these efforts at scale and whether they align with patient preferences. This study sought to characterize provider-led PGHD approaches, assess whether they aligned with patient preferences, and identify challenges to scale and impact.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We interviewed leaders from a geographically diverse set of health systems (n = 6), leaders from large electronic health record vendors (n = 3), and leaders from vendors providing PGHD solutions to health systems (n = 3). Next, we interviewed patients with 1 or more chronic conditions (n = 10), half of whom had PGHD experience. We conducted content analysis to characterize health system PGHD approaches, assess alignment with patient preferences, and identify challenges.

RESULTS

In this study, 3 primary approaches were identified, and each was designed to support collection of a different type of PGHD: 1) health history, 2) validated questionnaires and surveys, and 3) biometric and health activity. Whereas patient preferences aligned with health system approaches, patients raised concerns about data security and the value of reporting. Health systems cited challenges related to lack of reimbursement, data quality, and clinical usefulness of PGHD.

DISCUSSION

Despite a federal policy focus on PGHD, it is not yet being pursued at scale. Whereas many barriers contribute to this narrow pursuit, uncertainty around the value of PGHD, from both patients and providers, is a primary inhibitor.

CONCLUSION

Our results reveal a fairly narrow set of approaches to PGHD currently pursued by health systems at scale.

Present and Future Trends in Consumer Health Informatics and Patient-Generated Health Data

Objectives: Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) and the use of Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD) are rapidly growing focus areas in healthcare. The objective of this paper is to briefly review the literature that has been published over the past few years and to provide a sense of where the field is going. Methods: We searched PubMed and the ACM Digital Library for articles published between 2014 and 2016 on the topics of CHI and PGHD. The results of the search were screened for relevance and categorized into a set of common themes. We discuss the major topics covered in these articles. Results: We retrieved 65 articles from our PubMed query and 32 articles from our ACM Digital Library query. After a review of titles, we were left with 47 articles to conduct our full article survey of the activities in CHI and PGHD. We have summarized these articles and placed them into major categories of activity. Within the domain of consumer health informatics, articles focused on mobile health and patient-generated health data comprise the majority of the articles published in recent years. Conclusions: Current evidence indicates that technological advancements and the widespread availability of affordable consumer-grade devices are fueling research into using PGHD for better care. As we observe a growing number of (pilot) developments using various mobile health technologies to collect PGHD, major gaps still exist in how to use the data by both patients and providers. Further research is needed to understand the impact of PGHD on clinical outcomes.