An exploratory study of the personal health records adoption model in the older adult with chronic illness.

Abstract

Despite international efforts moving toward integrated care using health information technologies and the potential of electronic PHRs to help us better coordinate patient-centered care, PHR adoption in the United States remains low among patients who have been offered free access to them from private-sector companies. If older adult stand to benefit from the use of PHRs for its usefulness in self-managing chronic illness, why have they not been more readily adopted? Since the chronically ill older adult has unique circumstances that impact their decision to participate in self-directed care, a theoretical framework to help understand factors that influence the adoption of PHRs is important. Here we describe the results of an exploratory study that provided an initial test of such a framework.