Potential of personal health record portals in the care of individuals with spinal cord injuries and disorders: Provider perspectives.
Although personal health record (PHR) portals are designed for patients, healthcare providers are a key influence in how patients use their features and realize benefits from them. A few studies have examined provider attitudes toward PHR portals, but none have focused on those who care for individuals with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D). We characterize SCI/D provider perspectives of PHR portals, including perceived advantages and disadvantages of PHR portal use in SCI/D care.



Cross-sectional; semi-structured interviews.



Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Centers in the Veterans Health Administration.



Twenty-six SCI/D healthcare providers.



None.



Perceived advantages and disadvantages of PHR portals.



The complex situations of individuals with SCI/D shaped provider perspectives of PHR portals and their potential role in practice. Perceived advantages of PHR portal use in SCI/D care included the ability to coordinate information and care, monitor and respond to outpatient requests, support patient self-management activities, and provide reliable health information to patients. Perceived disadvantages of PHR portal use in SCI/D care included concerns about the quality of patient-generated health data, other potential liabilities for providers and workload burden, and the ability of individuals with SCI/D to understand clinical information accessed through a portal.



Our study highlights advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when promoting engagement of SCI/D healthcare providers in use of PHR portals, and portal features that may have the most utility in SCI/D care.
a Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Health Care , Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Veterans Health Administration , Hines , Illinois , USA.
Jennifer N
JN
Hill
a Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Health Care , Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Veterans Health Administration , Hines , Illinois , USA.|b Department of Pediatrics , Northwestern University , Chicago , Illinois , USA.
Bridget M
BM
Smith
a Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Health Care , Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Veterans Health Administration , Hines , Illinois , USA.|c Department of Public Health Sciences, Stritch School of Medicine , Loyola University , Maywood , Illinois , USA.
Frances M
FM
Weaver
d Veterans and Consumers Health Informatics Office, Office of Connected Care, Veterans Health Administration , Washington , DC , USA.
Kim M
0000-0002-0966-5602
KM
Nazi
e Neuroscience Institute, Hackensack University Medical Center, and Seton Hall-Hackensack-Meridian School of Medicine , Hackensack , New Jersey , USA.
Florian P
FP
Thomas
f Patient Care Services, Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder Services, Veterans Health Administration , Seattle , Washington , USA.
Barry
B
Goldstein
g Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Veterans Health Administration , Bedford , Massachusetts , USA.|h Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences , University of Massachusetts Medical School , Worcester , Massachusetts , USA.
Timothy P
TP
Hogan
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072638:Patient Portals; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Patient portals; Personal health records; Provider attitudes; Spinal cord injury