Oncology health-care professionals’ perceived effects of patient accessible electronic health records 6 years after launch: A survey study at a major university hospital in Sweden

Patient accessible electronic health records have been launched in many countries, and generally, health-care professionals have had strong initial concerns related to the areas patient contact, documentation practices and quality of care. Especially, oncology care was discussed in media when launching patient accessible electronic health records in Sweden. However, few studies have investigated clinician-perceived effects several years after the launch. A survey covering these areas, as well as supposed effects for patients, was distributed to oncology health-care professionals 6 years after the launch of patient accessible electronic health records and answered by N = 176. Results show that patient accessible electronic health records have had small effects within the covered areas, and that the area most affected was documentation practices. Very few significant differences could be found between physicians and nurses. A comparison with results from interviews and surveys conducted shortly after the launch of patient accessible electronic health records clearly indicates that the experienced negative effects are not as big as originally feared.

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Security Management in Electronic Health Records: Attitudes and Experiences Among Health Care Professionals

2018 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI) ◽

10.1109/csci46756.2018.00143 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Berglind Fjola Smaradottir

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Electronic Health Records ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Security Management ◽

Health Records ◽

Electronic Health

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HealthChain: A Blockchain for Electronic Health Records (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.13556 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Yonggang Xiao ◽

Yanbing Liu ◽

Yunjun Wu ◽

Tun Li ◽

Xingping Xian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Electronic Health Records ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Functional Requirements ◽

Care Providers ◽

Health Records ◽

Blockchain Technology ◽

Distributed Ledger ◽

Electronic Health

BACKGROUND The maintenance of accurate health records of patients is a requirement of health care professionals. Furthermore, these records should be shared across different health care organizations in order for professionals to have a complete review of medical history and avoid missing important information. Nowadays, health care providers use electronic health records (EHRs) as a key to accomplishment of these jobs and delivery of quality care. However, there are technical and legal hurdles that prevent the adoption of these systems, such as the concern about performance and privacy issues. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to build and evaluate an experimental blockchain for EHRs, named HealthChain, which addresses the disadvantages of traditional EHR systems. METHODS HealthChain is built based on consortium blockchain technology. Specifically, three stakeholders, namely hospitals, insurance providers, and governmental agencies, form a consortium that operates under a governance model, which enforces the business logic agreed by all participants. Peer nodes host instance of the distributed ledger consisting of EHRs, and instance of chaincode regulating the permissions of participants; designated orderers establish consensus on the order of EHRs and then disseminate blocks to peers. RESULTS HealthChain achieves the functional and non-functional requirements. While it can store EHRs in distributed ledger and share them among different participants, it demonstrates superior features, such as privacy preserving, security, and high throughout. These are the main reasons why HealthChain is proposed. CONCLUSIONS Consortium blockchain technology can help build EHR system and solve the problems that prevent the adoption of traditional ones.

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A Simulated Graphical Interface for Integrating Patient-Generated Health Data From Smartwatches With Electronic Health Records: Usability Study

JMIR Human Factors ◽

10.2196/19769 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. e19769

Author(s):

Jordan M Alpert ◽

Naga S Prabhakar Kota ◽

Sanjay Ranka ◽

Tonatiuh V Mendoza ◽

Laurence M Solberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Electronic Health Records ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Data ◽

Graphical Interface ◽

Usability Study ◽

Health Records ◽

Information Navigation ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Electronic Health

Background Wearable technology, such as smartwatches, can capture valuable patient-generated data and help inform patient care. Electronic health records provide logical and practical platforms for including such data, but it is necessary to evaluate the way the data are presented and visualized. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate a graphical interface that displays patients’ health data from smartwatches, mimicking the integration within the environment of electronic health records. Methods A total of 12 health care professionals evaluated a simulated interface using a usability scale questionnaire, testing the clarity of the interface, colors, usefulness of information, navigation, and readability of text. Results The interface was positively received, with 14 out of the 16 questions generating a score of 5 or greater among at least 75% of participants (9/12). On an 8-point Likert scale, the highest rated features of the interface were quick turnaround times (mean score 7.1), readability of the text (mean score 6.8), and use of terminology/abbreviations (mean score 6.75). Conclusions Collaborating with health care professionals to develop and refine a graphical interface for visualizing patients’ health data from smartwatches revealed that the key elements of the interface were acceptable. The implementation of such data from smartwatches and other mobile devices within electronic health records should consider the opinions of key stakeholders as the development of this platform progresses.

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Using Clinical Simulations to Train Health Care Professionals to Use Electronic Health Records: A Literature Review

CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing ◽

10.1097/01.ncn.0000717628.22589.32 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (11) ◽

pp. 597-598

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Literature Review ◽

Electronic Health Records ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Records ◽

Clinical Simulations ◽

Electronic Health

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Patients’ Experiences of Accessing Their Electronic Health Records: National Patient Survey in Sweden (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.9492 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jonas Moll ◽

Hanife Rexhepi ◽

Åsa Cajander ◽

Christiane Grünloh ◽

Isto Huvila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Electronic Health Records ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Patient Survey ◽

Patient Portal ◽

Health Records ◽

Web Based ◽

Number Of Patients ◽

National Patient ◽

Electronic Health

BACKGROUND Internationally, there is a movement toward providing patients a Web-based access to their electronic health records (EHRs). In Sweden, Region Uppsala was the first to introduce patient-accessible EHRs (PAEHRs) in 2012. By the summer of 2016, 17 of 21 county councils had given citizens Web-based access to their medical information. Studies on the effect of PAEHRs on the work environment of health care professionals have been conducted, but up until now, few extensive studies have been conducted regarding patients’ experiences of using PAEHRs in Sweden or Europe, more generally. OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to investigate patients’ experiences of accessing their EHRs through the Swedish national patient portal. In this study, we have focused on describing user characteristics, usage, and attitudes toward the system. METHODS A national patient survey was designed, based on previous interview and survey studies with patients and health care professionals. Data were collected during a 5-month period in 2016. The survey was made available through the PAEHR system, called Journalen, in Sweden. The total number of patients that logged in and could access the survey during the study period was 423,141. In addition to descriptive statistics reporting response frequencies on Likert scale questions, Mann-Whitney tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and chi-square tests were used to compare answers between different county councils as well as between respondents working in health care and all other respondents. RESULTS Overall, 2587 users completed the survey with a response rate of 0.61% (2587/423,141). Two participants were excluded from the analysis because they had only received care in a county council that did not yet show any information in Journalen. The results showed that 62.97% (1629/2587) of respondents were women and 39.81% (1030/2587) were working or had been working in health care. In addition, 72.08% (1794/2489) of respondents used Journalen about once a month, and the main reason for use was to gain an overview of one’s health status. Furthermore, respondents reported that lab results were the most important information for them to access; 68.41% (1737/2539) of respondents wanted access to new information within a day, and 96.58% (2454/2541) of users reported that they are positive toward Journalen. CONCLUSIONS In this study, respondents provided several important reasons for why they use Journalen and why it is important for them to be able to access information in this way—several related to patient empowerment, involvement, and security. Considering the overall positive attitude, PAEHRs seem to fill important needs for patients.

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A Simulated Graphical Interface for Integrating Patient-Generated Health Data From Smartwatches With Electronic Health Records: Usability Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.19769 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jordan M Alpert ◽

Naga S Prabhakar Kota ◽

Sanjay Ranka ◽

Tonatiuh V Mendoza ◽

Laurence M Solberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Electronic Health Records ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Data ◽

Graphical Interface ◽

Usability Study ◽

Health Records ◽

Information Navigation ◽

Key Stakeholders ◽

Electronic Health

BACKGROUND Wearable technology, such as smartwatches, can capture valuable patient-generated data and help inform patient care. Electronic health records provide logical and practical platforms for including such data, but it is necessary to evaluate the way the data are presented and visualized. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to evaluate a graphical interface that displays patients’ health data from smartwatches, mimicking the integration within the environment of electronic health records. METHODS A total of 12 health care professionals evaluated a simulated interface using a usability scale questionnaire, testing the clarity of the interface, colors, usefulness of information, navigation, and readability of text. RESULTS The interface was positively received, with 14 out of the 16 questions generating a score of 5 or greater among at least 75% of participants (9/12). On an 8-point Likert scale, the highest rated features of the interface were quick turnaround times (mean score 7.1), readability of the text (mean score 6.8), and use of terminology/abbreviations (mean score 6.75). CONCLUSIONS Collaborating with health care professionals to develop and refine a graphical interface for visualizing patients’ health data from smartwatches revealed that the key elements of the interface were acceptable. The implementation of such data from smartwatches and other mobile devices within electronic health records should consider the opinions of key stakeholders as the development of this platform progresses.

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Patients’ moral attitudes toward electronic health records: Survey study with vignettes and statements

Health Informatics Journal ◽

10.1177/1460458220980039 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 146045822098003

Author(s):

Tania Moerenhout ◽

Ignaas Devisch ◽

Laetitia Cooreman ◽

Jodie Bernaerdt ◽

An De Sutter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electronic Health Records ◽

De Novo ◽

Information Access ◽

Survey Study ◽

Sensitive Information ◽

Patient Portal ◽

Care Providers ◽

Health Records ◽

Electronic Health ◽

Moral Attitudes

Patient access to electronic health records gives rise to ethical questions related to the patient-doctor-computer relationship. Our study aims to examine patients’ moral attitudes toward a shared EHR, with a focus on autonomy, information access, and responsibility. A de novo self-administered questionnaire containing three vignettes and 15 statements was distributed among patients in four different settings. A total of 1688 valid questionnaires were collected. Patients’ mean age was 51 years, 61% was female, 50% had a higher degree (college or university), and almost 50% suffered from a chronic illness. Respondents were hesitant to hide sensitive information electronically from their care providers. They also strongly believed hiding information could negatively affect the quality of care provided. Participants preferred to be informed about negative test results in a face-to-face conversation, or would have every patient decide individually how they want to receive results. Patients generally had little experience using patient portal systems and expressed a need for more information on EHRs in this survey. They tended to be hesitant to take up control over their medical data in the EHR and deemed patients share a responsibility for the accuracy of information in their record.

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