The Power of Patient Engagement With Electronic Health Records as Research Participants

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Biomedical Research

Background:

• Electronic health record (EHR) technology is a core digital health tool in healthcare.
• EHR systems manage critical functions for providers and hospitals.
• Patient-facing EHR tools enable interaction with personal health data and external sources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe how patient engagement with EHR technology advances digital clinical trials.
• To highlight the potential of EHRs in improving health care and research.
• To discuss the role of digital health tools in enabling remote research.

Main Methods:

• This viewpoint analyzes the impact of patient-facing EHR tools.
• It examines the integration of external health data sources with EHRs.
• The discussion focuses on the evolution of EHR technology in clinical research.

Main Results:

• Patient engagement with EHRs increases the utility of digital health information.
• Digital health tools, including EHRs, facilitate fully remote research.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of these remote research capabilities.

Conclusions:

• Patient engagement with EHR technology is poised to advance digital clinical trials.
• This advancement offers a more accessible and inclusive research model.
• EHR data capture and digital health tools equip researchers with robust clinical data.