Improving secure messaging: A framework for support, partnership & information-giving communicating electronically (SPICE).

Background: Patient-centered communication benefits patients and is widely endorsed. However, it is primarily associated with face-to-face contexts, although patients are increasingly using electronic platforms, such as secure messaging in patient portals, to communicate with providers.

Purpose: Given the popularity of secure messaging and its ability to impact the patient-provider relationship, this study aimed to determine which attributes of patient-centered communication are most desired by cancer patients using secure messaging.

Methods: A 2 balanced incomplete block design discrete choice experiment was conducted using the best-worst scaling technique. Respondents were asked to select their most and least preferred attributes of two simulated patient-provider exchanges within each of eight choice sets.

Results: 210 respondents indicated that either level of partnership (high and low) and either level of information-giving (high and low) were most preferred, while response times greater than 24 hours and low levels of support were least favored.

Conclusions: Similar to face-to-face communication, patients value aspects of patient-centered communication in the secure messaging setting and desire them to be included in provider replies.

Practice Implications: Patient-centered communication is important to patients using secure messaging. Providers should incorporate SPICE (Support, Partnership, and Information-giving while Communicating Electronically).