Self Management and Reminders With Technology: SMART Appraisal of an Integrated Personal Health Record (PHR)

This project seeks to improve health care outcomes in complex patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or who are at high risk for developing CVD by promoting patient self-management. This will be accomplished in 4 diverse, large primary care practices through the following 3 aims: (1) develop a patient-specific, active component to an existing electronic PHR directed towards patients with complex illnesses that is designed to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, (2) conduct a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of passive and active PHRs for improving adherence and clinical outcomes of complex patients in an ambulatory environment, and (3) enumerate the barriers and facilitators to implementation and use of an PHR among providers and patients in an ambulatory setting. To accomplish the aim 1, a users group will be assembled to determine which potential features of an 'active PHR' would be most acceptable and useful to them. To accomplish the 2nd aim, 1,000 patients with complex chronic disease leading to increased cardiovascular risk (i.e., CVD or 2 of the 4 conditions of hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), or hyperlipidemia requiring at least one medication for control) will be randomized to a passive PHR (n=500), or an active PHR (n=500) at 4 sites where the PHR currently is installed and in use. Outcomes to be assessed include improvement in control of risk factors (e.g., blood pressure), frequency of compliance with testing guidelines (e.g., annual dilated retinal exams in DM), and clinical outcomes (e.g., myocardial infarction, hospitalizations). Aim 3 will be accomplished by surveying all participants using the PHR, along with nurses and physicians at the study sites, and by conducting focus groups of PHR participants, nurses, and physicians to determine the most useful features of the PHR and to barriers and facilitators of use.