Evaluation of a web-based patient portal for chronic disease management

Abstract

Chronic disease directly affects more than 9 million Canadians. Efficient strategies are needed to cope with the demand on health care services and to increase patient adherence to treatment. Emerging web 2.0 technologies present viable options for patient engagement in health care. We undertook a pilot project to assess the feasibility of two chronic disease management patient portals. A total of 35 patients participated in the assessment. Portals were evaluated for participant expectations, motivations, usability, and recommendations for future iterations. Findings suggest the features of this portal were useful. Important issues to participants include access to their medical record, communication with health care professionals and other participants regarding topics of interest, keeping track of biometrics, and keeping up with the latest clinical studies. © 2012 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.