Engaging Disadvantaged Patients in Sharing Patient Generated Health Data and Patient Reported Outcomes Through Health Information Technology

Patient engagement is particularly critical to achieving good chronic disease self-management. This is especially important for disadvantaged patients, who are disproportionately affected by chronic disease. A key component of chronic disease self-management is the ability for patients to record and monitor their ongoing performance on indicator measures. While health IT solutions have been shown to improve chronic disease self-management, adoption and use of costly, specialized technologies among disadvantaged patients is lower than among higher-income populations. In contrast, COTS technologies such as mobile phones are more accessible to and widely adopted by disadvantaged patients, thus bridging the gap of the digital divide.

The central research hypothesis posits that 1) low-income, disadvantaged patients both can and will provide high quality PGHD and PROs through COTS-based health IT solutions, and 2) these data can be integrated into clinical systems and used to improve health care quality and delivery. PGHD can be collected through patient interaction with COTS health IT solutions such as mobile health apps and fitness trackers. PROs can be collected via patient response to questionnaire-based PROs measures, or PROMs. These data can be transmitted to clinical information systems, integrated into clinical workflows and used by providers to improve health care quality and delivery. Using a sequential integrated mixed-methods approach, we propose to test the central hypothesis through three specific aims, as follows:

Aim 1: To assess the needs and preferences of disadvantaged patients and safety net health care providers regarding the use of health IT for communicating PGHD and PROs.

Aim 1 Research Questions: What specific features in COTS solutions meet the needs and preferences of disadvantaged patients for communicating PGHD and PROs to their providers? What PGHD and PROs are deemed most important by providers and patients for improving health care and health outcomes?

Answering these questions will inform health IT solution selection, design, usability, and utility; assist with prioritizing PGHD and PROs collection by data element and measure type; and identify potential discrepancies between patients' and providers' perceptions of PGHD and PROs importance.