Designing a service framework for electronic personal health records for diabetes self management
Journal Articles
Overview
Overview
abstract
With the increase in the prevalence of diabetes and the resultant greater demand for diabetes
services, and with fewer resources to pay for them, diabetes has become a multi-billion dollar
economic burden the world over. Electronic personal health records (ePHRs) have been
positioned as transformational agents that facilitate productive interactions between patients and
their healthcare providers, and support self-management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. In
keeping with a patient-centred model of care, healthcare services such as ePHRs that incorporate
patients’ preferences and level of activation are being sought to increase and sustain patients’
utility of these services. This study examines patients’ preferences for the attributes of an ePHR
service that supports diabetes self-management. It also explores factors that might influence their
preferences.
Conjoint analysis, one of the most widely used approaches to predict consumer preferences was
chosen for this study. Specifically, adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis was used to identify
the attributes of a winning ePHR service framework. Using Sawtooth Software’s suite of
interviewing products, a web-based survey was developed comprising six ePHR service
attributes. Hierarchical Bayes estimations were used to quantify patient preferences while latent
class analysis was used to segment the sample. Additional statistical analyses were conducted to
identify any significant relationships between patient characteristics and their preferences.
A stratified sample of 150 patients with Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, and Prediabetes were
unwavering in their preference for an internet-based ePHR service supplied by a physician or
specialist. They also preferred to exchange their health information with their physician or nurse,
once a month, at no cost. Monthly service fees were considered the most important ePHR service
attribute. These results were applied in market simulations and sensitivity analyses to uncover
the more complex effects of the ePHR attributes on the overall utility of the service. Exchanging
health information every two to three months as opposed to once a month, and offering an ePHR
service in the form of a monitoring device as opposed to an internet-based application, may be
viable options. Selling an ePHR service directly to patients via a commercial supplier had a
negative impact on the utility of the service. This research also shows that it would be prudent to
take patients’ ages and perceived health status into consideration when developing and marketing
an ePHR service. Surprisingly, patients’ level of activation for self-management did not appear
to play a major role in influencing their preferences for the attributes of the ePHR service
framework identified in the study.
