Veteran Preferences and Willingness to Share Patient-Generated Health Data.

Background: Technologies, including mobile health applications (apps) and wearables, offer new potential for gathering patient-generated health data (PGHD) from patients; however, little is known about patient preferences for and willingness to collect and share PGHD with their providers and healthcare systems.

Objective: Describe how patients use their PGHD and factors important to patients when deciding whether to share PGHD with a healthcare system.

Design: Cross-sectional mailed longitudinal survey supplemented with administrative data within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Understanding patients' experiences during transitions from one electronic health record to another: A scoping review.

Objectives: Identify existing research on impacts of transitions between electronic health record (EHR) systems on patients' healthcare experiences.

Methods: Scoping review. We searched MedLine, OVID, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycInfo databases for articles on patient experiences with EHR-to-EHR transitions.

Factors Associated with Veteran Self-Reported Use of Digital Health Devices.

Background: Digital health devices (DHDs), technologies designed to gather, monitor, and sometimes share data about health-related behaviors or symptoms, can support the prevention or management of chronic conditions. DHDs range in complexity and utility, from tracking lifestyle behaviors (e.g.

Improving Veteran Engagement with Virtual Care Technologies: a Veterans Health Administration State of the Art Conference Research Agenda.

Although the availability of virtual care technologies in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) continues to expand, ensuring engagement with these technologies among Veterans remains a challenge. VHA Health Services Research & Development convened a Virtual Care State of The Art (SOTA) conference in May 2022 to create a research agenda for improving virtual care access, engagement, and outcomes. This article reports findings from the Virtual Care SOTA engagement workgroup, which comprised fourteen VHA subject matter experts representing VHA clinical care, research, administration, and operations.

Relationship Between Patient Portal Tool Use and Medication Adherence and Viral Load Among Patients Living with HIV.

Background: Patient portals play an increasingly critical role in engaging patients in their health care. They have the potential to significantly impact the health of those living with chronic diseases, such as HIV, for whom consistent care engagement is both critical and complex.

Objective: The primary aim was to examine the longitudinal relationships between individual portal tool use and health-related outcomes in patients living with HIV.

Healthcare Utilization Differences Among Primary Care Patients Using Telemedicine in the Veterans Health Administration: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic encouraged telemedicine expansion. Research regarding follow-up healthcare utilization and primary care (PC) telemedicine is lacking.

Objective: To evaluate whether healthcare utilization differed across PC populations using telemedicine.

Understanding rural-urban differences in veterans' internet access, use and patient preferences for telemedicine.

Background: The expansion of telemedicine (e.g., telephone or video) in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) raises concerns for health care disparities between rural and urban veterans.

Stakeholder Perceptions of a Web-Based Physical Activity Intervention for COPD: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Technology-based physical activity interventions have been shown to be efficacious in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), though their potential impact has not been fully realized due to ineffective implementation. We used a convergent, parallel mixed-methods design to identify patient- and provider-facing barriers and facilitators to implementing a rigorously studied web-based physical activity intervention for COPD. Quantitative surveys (based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology; range 1 (poor usability)-5 (high usability)) and semi-structured interviews (guided by the practical robust implementation and sustainability model) assessed the perspectives of 15 patients and 15 health care providers.

Understanding Patients' Preferences and Experiences During an Electronic Health Record Transition.

Background: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has embarked on the largest system-wide electronic health record (EHR) transition in history. To date, most research on EHR-to-EHR transitions has focused on employee and system transition-related needs, with limited focus on how patients experience transitions.

Objective: (1) Understand patients' preferences for information and support prior to an EHR transition, and (2) examine actual patient experiences that occurred at facilities that implemented a new EHR.

Engaging Operational Partners Is Critical for Successful Implementation of Research Products: a Coincidence Analysis of Access-Related Projects in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

Background/objective: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has prioritized timely access to care and has invested substantially in research aimed at optimizing veteran access. However, implementing research into practice remains challenging. Here, we assessed the implementation status of recent VHA access-related research projects and explored factors associated with successful implementation.

Secure Messaging for Diabetes Management: Content Analysis.

Background: Secure messaging use is associated with improved diabetes-related outcomes. However, it is less clear how secure messaging supports diabetes management.

Objective: We examined secure message topics between patients and clinical team members in a national sample of veterans with type 2 diabetes to understand use of secure messaging for diabetes management and potential associations with glycemic control.

Factors Associated With Self-reported Use of Web and Mobile Health Apps Among US Military Veterans: Cross-sectional Survey.

Background: Despite their prevalence and reported patient interest in their use, uptake of health-related apps is limited. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has developed a variety of apps to support veterans; however, uptake remains low nationally.

Objective: We examined the prevalence of VHA health-related app use and how veterans learned about these apps in order to identify factors associated with their use.

Common procedures of remote measurement-based care in an integrated behavioural health context: protocol for a scoping review.

Introduction: Integrated behavioural health, a model of care that embeds mental health services in primary care, can potentially increase access to mental healthcare. With the increase in health information technologies, remote measurement-based care (RMBC) presents an opportunity to improve support of integrated care. This scoping review will comprehensively examine what common procedures are followed when RMBC for mental health is tested in integrated care settings.

Use of the Veterans Health Administration online patient portal among Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders.

Context/objective: Online patient portals like the Veteran Health Administration's (VA) My HealthVet (MHV) may be particularly useful for Veterans with spinal cord injuries/disorders (SCI/D), many of whom experience barriers to care. The objective of this analysis was to examine MHV use among Veterans with SCI/D.

Design: Retrospective database analysis.

Factors influencing uptake of telemental health via videoconferencing at high and low adoption sites within the Department of Veterans Affairs during COVID-19: a qualitative study.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic dramatically increased the use of telemental health via videoconferencing (TMH-V). While TMH-V has been found to be effective and satisfactory to both patients and providers, little is known regarding factors that influence site-level uptake. We examined facilitators and barriers to TMH-V uptake at higher and lower adoption sites within the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Engaging Stakeholders in Identifying Access Research Priorities for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Background: The Veterans Access Research Consortium (VARC), a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Consortium of Research focused on access to healthcare, has been funded by VA's Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) to develop a research roadmap for healthcare access. The goal of the roadmap is to identify operationally aligned research questions that are most likely to lead to meaningful improvements in Veterans' healthcare access.

Objectives: To describe the process of soliciting diverse stakeholder perspectives about key priorities on which VA's HSR&D access agenda should focus and identify the results of that process.

Understanding Adoption and Preliminary Effectiveness of a Mobile App for Chronic Pain Management Among US Military Veterans: Pre-Post Mixed Methods Evaluation.

Background: The Veterans Health Administration Pain Coach mobile health app was developed to support veterans with chronic pain.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate early user experiences with the Pain Coach app and preliminary impacts of app use on pain-related outcomes.

Methods: Following a sequential, explanatory, mixed methods design, we mailed surveys to veterans at 2 time points with an outreach program in between and conducted semistructured interviews with a subsample of survey respondents.

Corrigendum to: Correlates of personal health record registration and utilization among veterans with HIV.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooab029.].

Patient and provider predictors of telemental health use prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The current study examined patient and provider differences in use of phone, video, and in-person mental health (MH) services. Participants included patients who completed ≥ 1 MH appointment within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from 10/1/17-7/10/20 and providers who completed ≥ 100 VA MH appointments from 10/1/17-7/10/20. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) are reported of patients and providers: (a) completing ≥1 video MH appointment in the pre-COVID (10/1/17-3/10/20) and COVID (3/11/20-7/10/20) periods; and (b) completing the majority of MH visits via phone, video, or in-person during COVID.

Incorporating African American Veterans' Success Stories for Hypertension Management: Developing a Behavioral Support Texting Protocol.

Background: Peer narratives engage listeners through personally relevant content and have been shown to promote lifestyle change and effective self-management among patients with hypertension. Incorporating key quotations from these stories into follow-up text messages is a novel way to continue the conversation, providing reinforcement of health behaviors in the patients' daily lives.

Objective: In our previous work, we developed and tested videos in which African American Veterans shared stories of challenges and success strategies related to hypertension self-management.

Differences in Secure Messaging, Self-management, and Glycemic Control Between Rural and Urban Patients: Secondary Data Analysis.

Background: Rural patients with diabetes have difficulty accessing care and are at higher risk for poor diabetes management. Sustained use of patient portal features such as secure messaging (SM) can provide accessible support for diabetes self-management.

Objective: This study explored whether rural patients' self-management and glycemic control was associated with the use of SM.

Patient portal engagement and diabetes management among new portal users in the Veterans Health Administration.

Objective: The study sought to investigate whether consistent use of the Veterans Health Administration's My HealtheVet (MHV) online patient portal is associated with improvement in diabetes-related physiological measures among new portal users.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of new portal users with type 2 diabetes that registered for MHV between 2012 and 2016. We used random-effect linear regression models to examine associations between months of portal use in a year (consistency) and annual means of the physiological measures (hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c], low-density lipoproteins [LDLs], and blood pressure [BP]) in the first 3 years of portal use.

Web-based patient portal use and medication overlap from VA and private-sector pharmacies among older veterans.

The availability of Medicare Part D pharmacy coverage may increase veterans' options for obtaining medications outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pharmacies. However, availability of Part D coverage raises the potential that veterans may be receiving similar medications from VA and non-VA pharmacies. The VA's personal health record portal, My HealtheVet, allows veterans to self-enter the non-VA medications that they obtained from community-based pharmacies, including those reimbursed by Medicare Part D.

Correlates of personal health record registration and utilization among veterans with HIV.

Objective: We examined correlates of registration and utilization of the Veteran Health Administration's (VHA) personal health record (PHR), My HealtheVet (MHV), among a national cohort of veterans living with HIV.

Materials And Methods: Using VHA administrative data, we matched veterans with HIV who registered for MHV in fiscal year 2012-2018 ( = 8589) to 8589 veterans with HIV who did not register for MHV. We compared demographic and geographic characteristics, housing status, comorbidities, and non-VHA care between MHV registrants and nonregistrants to identify correlates of MHV registration.