UC Irvine

Health interface technologies enable digital data, information, and knowledge sharing to support the independent and collaborative health work of different entities (e.g., patients, healthcare providers, public health professionals). As healthcare has shifted towards a patient-centered approach, this class of technologies, which includes patient portals, is increasingly being used to facilitate patient participation in their care and patient-provider collaboration. Research suggests that using these technologies may have many positive effects such as increased patient engagement and improved health outcomes.

Unfortunately, despite the potential benefits, adoption and use of these technologies are often lower than expected. One of the primary barriers is that while the typical designs support certain aspects of patients’ and providers’ individual and collaborative work, it often does not support other important facets. This is especially true for patient-facing technologies such as patient portals and Apple Health Records. In addition, the lack of a clear definition of health interface technologies has resulted in a disconnected evidence base across numerous disciplines, including health informatics and human-computer interaction.

Given the significant investments made in these technologies, and their tremendous but underachieved potential, there is an imperative need for multi-disciplinary study of health interface technologies using human-centered approaches. My multi-method dissertation research addresses these needs by deriving insights from four studies focused on empowering patients through electronic access to their medical records. Study 1 is a systematic review of patient and caregiver suggestions for improving patient portals, which provide patients with electronic access to portions of their medical record. Study 2 investigates the extent to which recent U.S. Policy is currently benefiting patients through a review of the smartphone health application (app) landscape, with a particular focus on apps capable of automatically downloading medical records via a standards-based application programming interface. Studies 3 and 4 explore patient’s interaction with their medical records, specifically laboratory test results, through a unique perspective – patient questions containing these data posted to an online health community – to understand how the design of technologies can be improved to better support patients as they view their medical records. Based on the results of these studies, I discuss implications for the design of health interface technologies to support patient work.