Impact of Consumer Health Informatics Applications

Many people are excited about the potential of health information technology (IT) and consumer-oriented electronic Health (eHealth) solutions to improve public health. The field of analyzing consumers' needs for information, implementing methods of making information accessible to consumers, and integrating consumers' preferences into medical information systems is commonly referred to as consumer health informatics (CHI). Despite the growing interest in this area, however, there has not been a rigorous review of the effects of CHI on health and health process outcomes.

This project is a comprehensive review of current literature on CHI, defined as: "any electronic tool, technology, or electronic application that is designed to interact directly with consumers, with or without the presence of a health care professional that provides or uses individualized (personal) information and provides the consumer with individualized assistance, to help the patient better manage their health or health care."

The literature review focuses on four key areas: (1) the impact of CHI on a variety of health outcomes (including process, intermediate health, clinical, and economic outcomes); (2) barriers to implementation of CHI; (3) estimates of the cost and net value of CHI; and (4) evidence needed for broader CHI adoption. A total of 146 articles were identified for review through a structured search of several databases, references in review articles, recommendations by experts, and grey literature, such as conference proceedings. The review identified preliminary evidence that CHI has positive impacts on health processes and outcomes in a variety of clinical areas, including breast cancer; alcohol abuse; asthma; and diet, exercise, and obesity. However, because many of these areas have had only one study completed to address the impact of CHI, definitive evidence is not yet available. Further, the review process identified that one of the gaps in CHI research is the study of differences in patient preferences for CHI based on knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, needs, utilization, gender, age, and race/ethnicity.