Health informatics

Information technology (IT) has been hailed as a way to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care. But is IT delivering on its promise? The health informatics research program at Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) seeks to find the answer.

The program's research to date indicates that when IT is focused on patients' needs and preferences, it holds particular promise in helping to transform health care. Secure Web sites for patients (such as MyGroupHealth at www.ghc.org) show how IT can enable more continuous and timely care through services, including access to online medical records and secure messaging with providers. In recent GHRI research, advanced clinical information systems have helped clinical teams function more safely and effectively in improving care by meeting the needs of patients, particularly those who have chronic diseases such as hypertension or diabetes.

"Group Health is ahead of many other health care organizations in developing and implementing a patient-centered, integrated health IT system that gives individual patients and their doctors online access to the same information from the patient's medical record," said James D. Ralston, MD, MPH, associate investigator at GHRI. "So it's a great place to seek answers to the critical questions that surround health IT." With its defined patient population, Group Health is also an excellent place to study the role of health IT in a real-world health care setting.

GHRI investigators are involved in patient-centered health IT research in collaboration with institutions outside of Group Health, including the University of Washington.

GHRI investigators and staff are also supporting the expansion of the IT infrastructure of the HMO Research Network, exploring how health care innovations work in real practice among large populations. Currently active multisite research programs in the HMO Research Network include the Cancer Research Network (CRN), Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), and the HMO Center for Education, Research and Therapeutics (CERT).

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GHRI researchers in health informatics

Affiliate researchers

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Recent publications on health informatics

2010

Alexander GL, McClure JB, Calvi JH, Divine GW, Stopponi MA, Rolnick SJ, Heimendinger JB, Tolsma DD, Resnicow K, Campbell MK, Strecher VJ, Cole Johnson C. A randomized clinical trial evaluating online interventions to improve fruit and vegetable consumption. Am J Public Health. 2010 Feb;100(2):319-26. Epub 2009 Dec 17. PubMed

Delbanco T, Walker J, Darer JD, Elmore JG, Feldman HJ, Leveille SG, Ralston JD, Ross SE, Vodicka E, Weber VD. Open notes: doctors and patients signing on. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153(2):121-5. PubMed

Reid RJ, Coleman K, Johnson EA, Fishman PA, Hsu C, Soman MP, Trescott CE, Erikson M, Larson EB. The Group Health medical home at year two: cost savings, higher patient satisfaction, and less burnout for providers. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010;29(5):835-43. PubMed

Weppner WG, Ralston JD, Koepsell TD, Grothaus LC, Reid RJ, Jordan L, Larson EB. Use of a shared medical record with secure messaging by older patients with diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2010 Aug 25 [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

2009

Moreno MA, Ralston JD, Grossman DC. Adolescent access to online health services: perils and promise. J Adolesc Health. 2009;44(3):244-51. Epub 2008 Nov 11. PubMed

Ralston JD, Coleman K, Reid RJ, Handley MR, Larson EB. Patient experience should be part of meaningful-use criteria. Health Aff (Millwood). 2010;29(4):607-13. PubMed

Ralston JD, Rutter CM, Carrell D, Hecht J, Rubanowice D, Simon GE. Patient use of secure electronic messaging within a shared medical record: a cross-sectional study. J Gen Intern Med. 2009;24(3):349-55. Epub 2009 Jan 10. PubMed

Ralston JD, Martin DP, Anderson ML, Fishman PA, Conrad DA, Larson EB, Grembowski D. Group Health Cooperative's transformation toward patient-centered access. Med Care Res Rev. 2009 Dec;66(6):703-24. Epub 2009 Jun 23. PubMed

2008

Green BB, Cook AJ, Ralston JD, Fishman PA, Catz SL, Carlson J, Carrell D, Tyll L, Larson EB, Thompson RS. Effectiveness of home blood pressure monitoring, Web communication, and pharmacist care on hypertension control: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2008;299(24):2857-67. PubMed

Strecher VJ, McClure JB, Alexander GL, Chakraborty B, Nair VN, Konkel JM, Greene SM, Collins LM, Carlier CC, Wiese CJ, Little RJ, Pomerleau CS, Pomerleau OF. Web-based smoking-cessation programs: results of a randomized trial. Am J Prev Med. 2008;34(5):373-81. PubMed

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