Creating a Supportive Environment for Self-Management in Healthcare via Patient Electronic Tools

Abstract

Consumer electronic healthcare applications and tools, both Web-based and mobile apps, are increasingly available and used by citizens around the world. “eTools” denote the full range of electronic applications that consumers may use to assess, track, or treat their disease(s), including communicating with their healthcare provider. Consumer eTool use is prone to plateauing of use because it is one-sided (i.e., consumers use them without the assistance or advice of a healthcare provider). Patient eTools that allow patients to communicate with their healthcare providers, exchange data, and receive support and guidance between visits is a promising approach that could lead to more effective, sustained, and sustainable use of eTools. The key elements of a supportive environment for eTool use include 2-way data integration from patient home monitoring equipment to providers and from provider electronic medical records systems to patient eTools, mechanisms to support provider-patient communication between visits, the ability for providers to easily monitor incoming data from multiple patients, and for provider systems to leverage the team environment and delegate tasks to appropriate providers for education and follow-up. This is explored in this chapter.