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Randomized controlled trial of health maintenance reminders provided directly to patients through an electronic PHR.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Wright, A; Poon, EG; Wald, J; Feblowitz, J; Pang, JE; Schnipper, JL; Grant, RW; Gandhi, TK; Volk, LA; Bloom, A; Williams, DH; Gardner, K ...
Published in: Journal of general internal medicine
January 2012

Provider and patient reminders can be effective in increasing rates of preventive screenings and vaccinations. However, the effect of patient-directed electronic reminders is understudied.To determine whether providing reminders directly to patients via an electronic Personal Health Record (PHR) improved adherence to care recommendations.We conducted a cluster randomized trial without blinding from 2005 to 2007 at 11 primary care practices in the Partners HealthCare system.A total of 21,533 patients with access to a PHR were invited to the study, and 3,979 (18.5%) consented to enroll.Patients in the intervention arm received health maintenance (HM) reminders via a secure PHR "eJournal," which allowed them to review and update HM and family history information. Patients in the active control arm received access to an eJournal that allowed them to input and review information related to medications, allergies and diabetes management.The primary outcome measure was adherence to guideline-based care recommendations.Intention-to-treat analysis showed that patients in the intervention arm were significantly more likely to receive mammography (48.6% vs 29.5%, p = 0.006) and influenza vaccinations (22.0% vs 14.0%, p = 0.018). No significant improvement was observed in rates of other screenings. Although Pap smear completion rates were higher in the intervention arm (41.0% vs 10.4%, p < 0.001), this finding was no longer significant after excluding women's health clinics. Additional on-treatment analysis showed significant increases in mammography (p = 0.019) and influenza vaccination (p = 0.015) for intervention arm patients who opened an eJournal compared to control arm patients, but no differences for any measure among patients who did not open an eJournal.Providing patients with HM reminders via a PHR may be effective in improving some elements of preventive care.

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Published In

Journal of general internal medicine

DOI

EISSN

1525-1497

ISSN

0884-8734

Publication Date

January 2012

Volume

27

Issue

1

Start / End Page

85 / 92

Related Subject Headings

  • Reminder Systems
  • Primary Health Care
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Health Records, Personal
  • Health Behavior
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Female
  • Adult
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Wright, A., Poon, E. G., Wald, J., Feblowitz, J., Pang, J. E., Schnipper, J. L., … Middleton, B. (2012). Randomized controlled trial of health maintenance reminders provided directly to patients through an electronic PHR. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 27(1), 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1859-6
Wright, Adam, Eric G. Poon, Jonathan Wald, Joshua Feblowitz, Justine E. Pang, Jeffrey L. Schnipper, Richard W. Grant, et al. “Randomized controlled trial of health maintenance reminders provided directly to patients through an electronic PHR.Journal of General Internal Medicine 27, no. 1 (January 2012): 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1859-6.
Wright A, Poon EG, Wald J, Feblowitz J, Pang JE, Schnipper JL, et al. Randomized controlled trial of health maintenance reminders provided directly to patients through an electronic PHR. Journal of general internal medicine. 2012 Jan;27(1):85–92.
Wright, Adam, et al. “Randomized controlled trial of health maintenance reminders provided directly to patients through an electronic PHR.Journal of General Internal Medicine, vol. 27, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 85–92. Epmc, doi:10.1007/s11606-011-1859-6.
Wright A, Poon EG, Wald J, Feblowitz J, Pang JE, Schnipper JL, Grant RW, Gandhi TK, Volk LA, Bloom A, Williams DH, Gardner K, Epstein M, Nelson L, Businger A, Li Q, Bates DW, Middleton B. Randomized controlled trial of health maintenance reminders provided directly to patients through an electronic PHR. Journal of general internal medicine. 2012 Jan;27(1):85–92.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of general internal medicine

DOI

EISSN

1525-1497

ISSN

0884-8734

Publication Date

January 2012

Volume

27

Issue

1

Start / End Page

85 / 92

Related Subject Headings

  • Reminder Systems
  • Primary Health Care
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Health Records, Personal
  • Health Behavior
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Female
  • Adult