A Randomized Controlled Trial Embedded in an Electronic Medical Record (myHERO).

HIV/AIDS is a non-curable chronic illness. Applying the chronic care model (CCM) to this disease may lead to improved outpatient based health care and easier clinical transitions for HIV infected patients. Clinical information systems (CIS) are a key element in the CCM and have three important roles: reminder systems; feedback mechanisms; and registries. CIS have focused on the provider as the recipient of critical data, however clinical information systems that target patients as consumers of information might also contribute to improved health care, especially for ambulatory patients. Personal health records (PHRs) are tools that would fit as a clinical information system for patients. PHRs allow patients (and others) to view data that are necessary to guide practical outpatient decisions. PHRs can become platforms to support the CIS elements too, allowing patients to receive and understand information, engage in their healthcare and influence their health outcomes. Our central hypothesis is that a secure enhanced PHR (ePHR) that combines meaningful information, web-based tools for support and reminders for patients will also provide a substantial opportunity to promote self-management and will lead to improved health outcomes. In this proposal we will work directly with HIV/AIDS patients in a public health setting to model processes that contribute to improved health outcomes in the realms of patient behaviors, patient-clinician trust, clinical outcomes, medication safety and utilization. Accordingly, the specific aims are:

1. (Build Infrastructure and Content) Extend and secure a web-based PHR for HIV/AIDS patients receiving care in a public health setting providing these users with tools to access and understand their medical record including resources for decision support, information retrieval and communication. Specific content will include access to support for tobacco cessation, depression abatement, anxiety reduction, and medication adherence improvement.
2. (Evaluation of PHR) Evaluation of patient and clinician experience with PHR including patient access and use patterns including use of support for tobacco cessation, depression abatement, anxiety reduction, adherence improvement., patient and clinician satisfaction with ePHR.
3. (Outcome Assessment) Evaluation in 5 domains: quality of the patient-clinician interaction (trust, communication, health promotion); changes in patient behaviors (risk behaviors, adherence to antiretroviral medications, tobacco use); clinical outcomes (CD4+ T-lymphocytes, detectable plasma HIV RNA, depression, anxiety, quality of life); safety (documentation of drug allergies, adverse events, medication reconciliation); and utilization (office visits).