Use of the My HealtheVet for Health Information Sharing

VA Office of Research and Development

Status: Completed

Conditions: Chronic Illness

Treatments: Other: Internet Skills Training; Behavioral: My HealtheVet Training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT01955005

PPO 13-178

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to conduct a pilot of an intervention to improve care coordination between VA and non-VA providers using the Department of Veteran's Affairs' (VA) personal health record, My HealtheVet (MHV). Participants will be randomized to receive either training on 1) how to use My HealtheVet to share VA health information or 2) training on how to how to search the Internet for health information and decide which Internet sites have good quality information. The investigators predict that Veterans who receive the My HealtheVet training will have fewer medication errors and duplication of services between the VA and outside providers.

Full description

This study aims to conduct a pilot of an intervention to improve care coordination between VA and non-VA providers using the Department of Veteran's Affairs' (VA) personal health record, My HealtheVet (MHV). Background: The Blue Button feature of My HealtheVet allows Veterans to print out a comprehensive summary of their health that can be shared with non-VA providers. Dual use is common and has been associated with negative health outcomes including higher mortality. Preliminary data collected by the principal investigator in collaboration with the My HealtheVet Performance Evaluation workgroup shows that few Veterans enrolled in My HealtheVet use it to inform either VA or non-VA providers of their care. To remedy this, the principal investigator has developed an online video and companion paper-based training. This training will teach Veterans how to use the Blue Button feature and why it is important to share the print out with their non-VA provider. Methods: To participate, Veterans must have an upcoming non-VA provider appointment, be prescribed 5 or more medications, and be registered on My HealtheVet with a premium account. Participants will be randomized to receive either training on how to use the Blue Button or training on how to search for health information on the Internet and if that information is good quality. Veterans in both arms will receive training materials and phone support. After the non-VA provider visit, both the Veteran and the provider will be asked to indicate what occurred during the visit, including whether or not the Veteran gave the provider the Blue Button print out. Both Veterans and providers will also be asked to complete a 15-minute qualitative interview about their experience during the visit. Medical records of the non-VA provider visit will be obtained. Outcomes: The main outcome for the study is whether the patient provided the non-VA provider a copy of his or her health information printed from My HealtheVet. In addition, comparison between the VA and non-VA provider records will be conducted to test whether Veterans who completed the training had 1) better medication reconciliation between the VA and the non-VA provider and 2) fewer instances of therapeutic or laboratory duplication. The results of this pilot will be used to inform a larger randomized controlled trial of the training intervention.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Upcoming Non-VA provider appointment
• Take 5 or more prescribed medications
• Have or obtain a My HealtheVet premium account
• Access to computer, printer, & Internet to complete study protocol

Exclusion criteria

• No non-VA provider or upcoming appointment
• Less than 5 medications
• No premium MHV account

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

My HealtheVet Training

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be asked to watch an on-line training video, review written materials, and print a document containing health information from their My HealtheVet account.

Treatment:

Behavioral: My HealtheVet Training

Internet Skills Training

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will review written training materials to learn how to search the Internet for health information and how to decide which Internet sites have good quality information.

Treatment:

Other: Internet Skills Training