scholarly journals Understanding the Use of Electronic Means to Seek Personal Health Information Among Adults in the United States

Cureus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noara Alhusseini ◽  
Jim E Banta ◽  
Jisoo Oh ◽  
Susanne Montgomery
2017 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. s30-s38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra J. Greenberg ◽  
Danielle Haney ◽  
Kelly D. Blake ◽  
Richard P. Moser ◽  
Bradford W. Hesse

2002 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-502
Author(s):  
Mary L. Durham

While the new Health Insurance Privacy and Accountability Act (HIPAA) research rules governing privacy, confidentiality and personal health information will challenge the research and medical communities, history teaches us that the difficulty of this challenge pales in comparison to the potential harms that such regulations are designed to avoid. Although revised following broad commentary from researchers and healthcare providers around the country, the HIPAA privacy requirements will dramatically change the way healthcare researchers do their jobs in the United States. Given our reluctance to change, we risk overlooking potentially valid reasons why access to personal health information is restricted and regulated. In an environment of electronic information, public concern, genetic information and decline of public trust, regulations are ever-changing. Six categories of HIPAA requirements stand out as transformative: disclosure accounting/tracking, business associations, institutional review board (IRB) changes, minimum necessary requirements, data de-identification, and criminal and civil penalties.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Kristine R Hearld ◽  
Larry R Hearld ◽  
Henna Budhwani ◽  
Deirdre McCaughey ◽  
Leandra Y Celaya ◽  
...  

The past decade has given rise to interest in the effects of health care information on personal well-being. However, investigations to-date typically centered on mass communication programs in health rather than on individuals’ psychosocial characteristics, agency, and behaviors associated with their engagement with this information. Considering this gap, we examined whether the availability of personal health information is associated with health prevention behaviors in the United States. Using multivariable path analysis and data from the 2017 Health Information National Trends Survey, we investigate whether the use of personal health information is associated with positive, preventative health behaviors (healthy eating, tobacco smoking, and exercise), and if this relationship is mediated by patient confidence in their ability to care for themselves and by their self-perceived health status. Findings indicate that the use of health information, at low levels, is important for improving patient attitudes regarding their health status and confidence in caring for themselves. Perceived health-status and patient confidence, in turn, are associated with preventative health behaviors. Notably, too much information does not necessarily result in positive health behaviors among patients. Organizations may wish to critically assess how much information they make readily available to the populations they serve.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (e1) ◽  
pp. e18-e27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiara K Spooner ◽  
Jason L Salemi ◽  
Hamisu M Salihu ◽  
Roger J Zoorob

Objective: Health-related Internet use and eHealth technologies, including online patient-provider communication (PPC), are continually being integrated into health care environments. This study aimed to describe sociodemographic and health- and Internet-related correlates that influence adult patients’ interest in and electronic exchange of medical information with health care providers in the United States. Methods: Nationally representative cross-sectional data from the 2014 Health Information National Trends Survey (N = 3677) were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and multivariable regression analyses were performed to examine associations between patient-level characteristics and online PPC behavior and interests. Results: Most respondents were Internet users (82.8%), and 61.5% of information seekers designated the Internet as their first source for health information. Younger respondents (<50 years), Hispanics, those from higher-income households, and those perceiving access to personal health information as important were more likely to be interested in online PPC. Despite varying levels of patient interest, 68.5% had no online PPC in the last year. However, Internet users (odds ratio, OR = 2.87, 95% CI, 1.35-6.08), college graduates (OR = 2.92, 95% CI, 1.42-5.99), and those with frequent provider visits (OR = 1.94, 95% CI, 1.02-3.71) had a higher likelihood of online PPC via email or fax, while Hispanics and those from higher-income households were 2–3 times more likely to communicate via text messaging or phone/mobile apps. Conclusion: Patients’ interest in and display of online PPC-related behaviors vary by age, race/ethnicity, education, income, Internet access/behaviors, and information type. These findings can inform efforts aimed at improving the use and adoption of eHealth technologies, which may contribute to a reduction in communication inequalities and health care disparities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Irmiter ◽  
Italo Subbarao ◽  
Jessica Nitin Shah ◽  
Patricia Sokol ◽  
James J. James

ABSTRACTBackground: In the days following a disaster/public health emergency, there is great effort to ensure that everyone receives appropriate care and lives are saved. However, evacuees following a disaster/public health emergency often lack access to personal health information that is vital to receive or maintain quality care. Delayed treatment and interruptions of medication regimens often contribute to excess morbidity and mortality following a disaster/public health emergency. This study sought to define a set of minimum health information elements that can be maintained in a personal health record (PHR) and given to first responders/receivers within the first 96 hours of a disaster/public health response to improve clinical health outcomes.Methods: A mixed methods approach of qualitative and quantitative data gathering and analyses was completed. Expert panel members (n = 116) and existing health information elements were sampled for this study; 55% (n = 64) of expert panel members had clinical credentials and determined the health information. From an initial set of six sources, a step-wise process using a Likert scale survey and thematic data analyses, including interrater reliability and validity checks, produced a set of minimum health information elements.Results: The results identified 30 essential elements from 676 existing health information elements, a reduction of approximately 95%. The elements were grouped into seven domains: identification, emergency contact, health care contact, health profile –past medical history, medication, major allergies/diet restrictions, and family information.Conclusions: Leading experts in clinical disaster preparedness identified a set of minimum health information elements that first responders/receivers must have to ensure appropriate and timely care. If this set of elements is used as the fundamental information for a PHR, and automatically updated and validated during clinical encounters and medication changes, it is conceivable that following large-scale disasters clinical outcomes may be improved and more lives may be saved.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2012;6:303-310)


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