Consumer Informatics Supporting Patients as Co-Producers of Quality
- Affiliations of the authors: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (BK); University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin (PFB)
- Correspondence and reprints: Bonnie Kaplan, PhD, President, Kaplan Associates, 59 Morris Street, Hamden, CT 06517; e-mail: <bonnie.kaplan{at}yale.edu>
- Received 27 November 2000
- Accepted 12 March 2001
Abstract
The track entitled “Consumer Informatics Supporting Patients as Co-Producers of Quality” at the AMIA Spring 2000 Congress was devoted to examining the new field of consumer health informatics. This area is developing rapidly, as worldwide changes are occurring in the organization and delivery of health care and in the traditional roles of patient and provider. This paper describes the key themes of the track; implications of the growing area of consumer health informatics; and recommendations for informatics research, design, and policy. Key themes that emerged from the panels and discussions involved changes in roles of consumers and providers; supporting a patient–provider–information technology partnership; virtual, not physical, structure for health care and health care information delivery; and health care as an integrated part of one's life. Panelists and participants at the Congress developed recommendations for informatics research, design, and policy, with an overarching focus on how to support the patient–provider–information technology partnership to provide more patientcentered health care. They recommended that AMIA take an active leadership role in consumer health informatics. Specific recommendations were made concerning research, new patient record systems, provider support, information access and evaluation, and policy and regulation.
Footnotes
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This work was presented at the AMIA 2000 Spring Congress; May 23–25, 2000; Boston, Massachusetts.
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↵* See footnote on p. 312.
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↵† This paper reflects the difficulties in choosing the appropriate term, which is why more than one of them is used in different parts of the paper. This variation was not intended to convey any particular message or definition. Appropriate use of each of these terms, and other possible ones, clearly needs more thought, and the implications require further research.
