Assessment of Personal Health Care Management and Chronic Disease Prevalence: Comparative Analysis of Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Health-Related Variables.

Background: The use of personal health care management (PHM) is increasing rapidly within the United States because of implementation of health technology across the health care continuum and increased regulatory requirements for health care providers and organizations promoting the use of PHM, particularly the use of text messaging (short message service), Web-based scheduling, and Web-based requests for prescription renewals. Limited research has been conducted comparing PHM use across groups based on chronic conditions.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the overall utilization of PHM and compare individual characteristics associated with PHM in groups with no reported chronic conditions, with 1 chronic condition, and with 2 or more such conditions.

Meaningful Use Attestations among US Hospitals: The Growing Rural-Urban Divide.

The purpose of this study was to assess EHR Incentive Program attestations of eligible US hospitals across geography and hospital type. The proportions of attestations were compared between metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural hospitals and by whether a hospital was critical access or prospective payment system. From 2011 until December 2013, rural and critical access hospitals were attesting to meaningful use and receiving federal incentive payments at a significantly lower proportion than their urban counterparts.

Using Publicly Available Data to Characterize Consumers Use of Email to Communicate with Healthcare Providers.

The use of patient focused technology has been proclaimed as a means to improve patient satisfaction and improve care outcomes. The Center for Medicaid/Medicare Services, through its EHR Incentive Program, has required eligible hospitals and professionals to send and receive secure messages from patients in order to receive financial incentives and avoid reimbursement penalties. Secure messaging between providers and patients has the potential to improve communication and care outcomes.

Determinants of Consumer eHealth Information Seeking Behavior.

Patients are increasingly using the Internet and other technologies to engage in their own healthcare, but little research has focused on the determinants of consumer eHealth behaviors related to Internet use. This study uses data from 115,089 respondents to four years of the National Health Interview Series to identify the associations between one consumer eHealth behavior (information seeking) and demographics, health measures, and Personal Health Information Management (PHIM) (messaging, scheduling, refills, and chat). Individuals who use PHIM are 7.

Recruiting and retaining physicians in very rural areas.

Context: Recruiting and retaining physicians is a challenge in rural areas. Growing up in a rural area and completing medical training in a rural area have been shown to predict decisions to practice in rural areas. Little is known, though, about factors that contribute to physicians' decisions to locate in very sparsely populated areas.