? ? The overarching goal of this proposal is to develop self-sustaining practice-based systems that will ? improve access to and delivery of online health information to patients and health care providers, potentially resulting in better health and health care in rural and other underserved areas in Northern New England. The Office of Community-based Education and Research at Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries and the Northern New Hampshire Area Health Education Center will work collaboratively with 24 recruited community primary care practices located in rural and underserved regions in New Hampshire and Vermont to increase access to and use of online health resources by providers and patients. ? ? Our Specific Objectives are to: ? 1. Provide hardware and Internet connections to 24 community primary care practices in Northern New ? England and ensure operational status of equipment. ? 2. Identify, among existing practice members in the recruited practices, health information teams that ? include a technical support person (for Objective 1), an Internet information specialist, and a clinical ? information expert. ? 3. Provide training that allows health information teams (Objective 2) to create office systems designed to support use of quality online health information for clinical practice and patient education activities. ? 4. Track specific, measurable outcomes in: a) providers' attitudes and knowledge about and use of quality online information resources in patient care; and b) patients' attitudes and knowledge about and use of online information resources for personal health care decisions. ? 5. Determine using a randomized controlled design what factors are associated with use of information ? resources among providers and patients. ? ? This project applies and tests strategies using an office systems approach that have a high likelihood of ? success in incorporating day-to-day Internet use in clinical practice, particularly those in rural and ? underserved areas. In doing so, it holds the potential of identifying ways to promote effective use of online information for patient care, positive interactions between patients and providers around health information on the Internet, and increased use of online health resources by patients. Due to our study design, we will be able to disseminate proven strategies to enhance Internet connectivity and use. ? ?
| Reed, Virginia A; Schifferdecker, Karen E; Homa, Karen (2008) Improving information management in primary care: the proof is in the pudding. Inform Prim Care 16:213-20 |
| Homa, Karen; Schifferdecker, Karen E; Reed, Virginia A (2008) Do lessons learned in a training intervention on web-based health care resources diffuse to nonexposed members in the primary care setting? A comparative study. Qual Manag Health Care 17:330-40 |
| Schifferdecker, Karen E; Reed, Virginia A; Homa, Karen (2008) A training intervention to improve information management in primary care. Fam Med 40:423-32 |
