Abstract

Patient-Centered E-Health (PCEH) is an increasingly important part of health information technology. Yet the literature in this area is mainly descriptive and atheoretical, which limits opportunities for research advancement. This paper addresses the theoretical proposition that the benefits of PCEH can be maximized by incorporating three essential characteristics: Patient-focus, patient-activity, and patient-empowerment. We conduct a literature review of e-health research published between 2007 and 2011 to assess the relevance of these characteristics to the underlying domain and their relationships to one another. The results indicate the PCEH characteristics are generalizable to the existing research literature, are generalizable across place and time, and exhibit substantial interrelationships. These findings are encouraging to further development of a predictive theory of PCEH.

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Patient-Centered E-Health: A Status Report

Patient-Centered E-Health (PCEH) is an increasingly important part of health information technology. Yet the literature in this area is mainly descriptive and atheoretical, which limits opportunities for research advancement. This paper addresses the theoretical proposition that the benefits of PCEH can be maximized by incorporating three essential characteristics: Patient-focus, patient-activity, and patient-empowerment. We conduct a literature review of e-health research published between 2007 and 2011 to assess the relevance of these characteristics to the underlying domain and their relationships to one another. The results indicate the PCEH characteristics are generalizable to the existing research literature, are generalizable across place and time, and exhibit substantial interrelationships. These findings are encouraging to further development of a predictive theory of PCEH.