Improving Diabetes Care Through Effective Personalized Patient Portal Interactions
Improving Diabetes Care Through Effective Personalized Patient Portal Interactions
Patient-facing eHealth technologies, such as online patient portals, connect patients with the healthcare system, help them access their health information, and support self-management of health conditions. This study tested an intervention to improve adoption and use of the My HealtheVet patient portal for diabetes management.
The goal of this small scale study is to test the feasibility of engaging Veterans in a supported adoption intervention to promote effective patient portal use in a sample of Veterans with uncontrolled Type II diabetes.
Participants were eligible for recruitment if they were Veterans age 18-85 who were actively receiving care at one of the study sites (as determined by having an upcoming scheduled appointment), had uncontrolled glucose (HbA1c >= 8.5%), and had either never used the VA patient portal or were inactive registrants who have not used the patient portal in the past 12 months. Participants who met these conditions and did not opt out of the study were randomized to one of four arms: 1) Encouragement I (brochure + mailed training guide), 2) Encouragement II (brochure + mailed training guide + invitation to group training), 3) Encouragement III (brochure + mailed training guide + invitation to group and one-on-one training), and 4) Comparison (standard patient portal enrollment brochure only). All arms received the standard My HealtheVet patient portal enrollment brochure along with an invitation to participate in the study. Those randomized to any of the Encouragement Arms received a mailed training guide. The My HealtheVet Training Guide for Veterans Living with Diabetes was designed in conjunction with Veteran co-investigators based on feedback from patients living with diabetes who were My HealtheVet users. It provided step by step guidance on how to use the features Veterans living with diabetes find most helpful with specific examples of use for diabetes self-management. Those in Encouragement Arm II were also invited to attend one of several group training sessions. Those in Encouragement III were invited to schedule a one-on one session to learn how to use the patient portal. Those in the comparison condition were asked during their interview if they would like a Training Guide mailed to them at the end of the trial, and those interested were mailed a Training Guide.
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: