| Meaningful Use Stage 3 draft standards call for providers to collect patient-generated health information (PGHI) by 2016. The healthcare realm recognizes that successfully incorporating and leveraging PGHI technologies and tools will be challenging for many healthcare providers. Because most information on PGHI available to healthcare organizations is basic and, perhaps, somewhat fragmented, the main deliverable of this final applied project is a comprehensive "guidebook" for providers that aims to support their PGHI project endeavors. Moreover, as rural healthcare often gets overlooked and its state is far from ideal, distinct focus has been placed on examining common challenges and barriers rural healthcare organizations face, particularly relating to health information technology. An analysis of the information obtained from an extensive search and review of various academic journals, books, websites, and other relevant sources on these topics helped shape and guide the final project. Supplementing the guidebook are several appendices, including an additional resource guide with links readers can use to find out more information, a sample organizational needs assessment, and a user satisfaction survey template providers can use. |
