Connected Health Consumers Want Better Portals, Social Media

From HIMSS

Hashtags and Health Literacy: How Social Media Transforms Engagement
Outlines a range of ways that social media can enhance health literacy and lead to patient engagement. "Carving out time each week or month to read an article or post on health-related topics will make us smarter in our care."

The problem with patient portals - Medical Practice Insider
This article reiterates some of the problems - patient adoption, security of data, and the need for education and simplification. Portals are effective ways of transferring "bulk information" to patients but are not a substitute for the face-to-face. What happens when the face-to-face is via video chat?

Blogs, Books, Journals

‘The Patient Will See You Now,’ by Eric Topol - NY Times
This very positive book review talks in terms of Topol viewing a future of patients being liberated from their doctors to do things like diagnostic test at home. The reviewer thinks some predictions go to far, such as, restrictions on direct-to-consumer genetic testing being paternalistic. The book is full of bold predictions which challenge the status quo. The intersection of changes in reimbursement and digital health is moving medicine to radical changes.

Consumers vs. patients: Healthcare's biggest misunderstanding - Becker's Health IT
This is part of the ongoing discussion of how patients/consumers want to be identified. Key quote: "only about 15 percent of people in the population are in a patient state at any given time, ... The other 85 percent of the population are in consumer mode." The author recommends one platform because people move from patients to consumers fluidly throughout time.

The State of the Connected Patient 2015 [INFOGRAPHIC] -Salesforce blog
This is a helpful summary of the results of their survey of the connected patient. 60% of millennials would use a telehealth option and 71% would like their doctor to use a mobile app.

The Wired Patient: Patterns of Electronic Patient Portal Use Among Patients With Cardiac Disease or Diabetes - JMIR
This study identified distinct groups of users: "characterized by tracking biometric measures, sending electronic messages to their provider, preparing for an office visit, and tracking laboratory results. More studies observing portal behavior are needed. What implications are there for portal adoption by patients?

Patient and Provider Attitudes Toward the Use of Patient Portals for the Management of Chronic Disease: A Systematic Review - JMIR
This review of published studies reports that there are: "mixed attitudes from patients and their providers regarding the use of patient portals to manage their chronic disease." The authors propose better usability in portal design to enhance adoption.