Eight-year post-trial follow-up of health care and long-term care costs of tele-based health coaching

Objective To evaluate the long-term effect of telephone health coaching on health care and long-term care (LTC) costs in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Data Sources/Study Setting Randomized controlled trial (RCT) data were linked to Finnish national health and social care registries and electronic health records (EHR). Post-trial eight-year economic evaluation was conducted. Study Design A total of 1,535 patients (>= 45 years) were randomized to the intervention (n = 1034) and control groups (n = 501). The intervention group received monthly telephone health coaching for 12 months. Usual health care and LTC were provided for both groups. Principal Findings Intention-to-treat analysis showed no significant change in total health and long-term care costs (intervention effect euro1248 [3 percent relative reduction], CI -6347 to 2217) in the intervention compared to the control group. There were also no significant changes among subgroups of patients with T2D or CAD. Conclusions Health coaching had a nonsignificant effect on health care and long-term care costs in the 8-year follow-up among patients with T2D or CAD. More research is needed to study, which patient groups, at which state of the disease trajectory of T2D and cardiovascular disease, would best benefit from health coaching.Peer reviewe

The Role of Frontline Leaders in Building Health Professional Support for a New Patient Portal

BACKGROUND: Effective leadership and change management are thought to contribute to the successful implementation of health information technology innovations. However, limited attention has been paid to the role of frontline leaders in building health professional support for new technical innovations. OBJECTIVE: First, we examined whether frontline leaders' positive expectations of a patient portal and perceptions of its implementation were associated with their support for the portal. Second, we explored whether leaders' positive perceptions influenced the same unit's health professional support for the portal. METHODS: Data were collected through an online survey of 2067 health professionals and 401 frontline leaders working in 44 units from 14 health organizations in Finland. The participating organizations run a joint self-care and digital value services project developing a new patient portal for self-management. The survey was conducted before the piloting and implementation of the patient portal. RESULTS: The frontline leaders' perception of vision clarity had the strongest association with their own support for the portal (ß=.40, P<.001). Results also showed an association between leaders' view of organizational readiness and their support (ß=.15, P=.04). The leaders' positive perceptions of the quality of informing about the patient portal was associated with both leaders' own (ß=.16, P=.02) and subordinate health professionals' support for the portal (ß=.08, P<.001). Furthermore, professional participation in the planning of the portal was positively associated with their support (ß=.57, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that assuring good informing, communicating a clear vision to frontline leaders, and acknowledging organizational readiness for change can increase health professional support for electronic health (eHealth) services in the pre-implementation phase. Results highlight the role of frontline leaders in engaging professionals in the planning and implementation of eHealth services andin building health professionals' positive attitudes toward the implementation of eHealth services.Peer reviewe

Patients' Experiences of Web-Based Access to Electronic Health Records in Finland

Funding Information: This work was supported by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland (grants 327145 and 327147) and NordForsk (project 100477). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Journal of Medical Internet Research. All rights reserved.Background: Patient portals that provide access to electronic health records offer a means for patients to better understand and self-manage their health. Yet, patient access to electronic health records raises many concerns among physicians, and little is known about the use practices and experiences of patients who access their electronic health records via a mature patient portal that has been available for citizens for over five years. Objective: We aimed to identify patients' experiences using a national patient portal to access their electronic health records. In particular, we focused on understanding usability-related perceptions and the benefits and challenges of reading clinical notes written by health care professionals. Methods: Data were collected from 3135 patient users of the Finnish My Kanta patient portal through a web-based survey in June 2021 (response rate: 0.7%). Patients received an invitation to complete the questionnaire when they logged out of the patient portal. Respondents were asked to rate the usability of the patient portal, and the ratings were used to calculate approximations of the System Usability Scale score. Patients were also asked about the usefulness of features, and whether they had discussed the notes with health professionals. Open-ended questions were used to ask patients about their experiences of the benefits and challenges related to reading health professionals' notes. Results: Overall, patient evaluations of My Kanta were positive, and its usability was rated as good (System Usability Scale score approximation: mean 72.7, SD 15.9). Patients found the portal to be the most useful for managing prescriptions and viewing the results of examinations and medical notes. Viewing notes was the most frequent reason (978/3135, 31.2%) for visiting the portal. Benefits of reading the notes mentioned by patients included remembering and understanding what was said by health professionals and the instructions given during an appointment, the convenience of receiving information about health and care, the capability to check the accuracy of notes, and using the information to support self-management. However, there were challenges related to difficulty in understanding medical terminology, incorrect or inadequate notes, missing notes, and usability. Conclusions: Patients actively used medical notes to receive information to follow professionals' instructions to take care of their health, and patient access to electronic health records can support self-management. However, for the benefits to be realized, improvements in the quality and availability of medical professionals' notes are necessary. Providing a standard information structure could help patients find the information they need. Furthermore, linking notes to vocabularies and other information sources could also improve the understandability of medical terminology; patient agency could be supported by allowing them to add comments to their notes, and patient trust of the system could be improved by allowing them to control the visibility of the professionals' notes.Peer reviewe