Do Patient Engagement IT Functionalities Influence Patient Safety Outcomes? A Study of US Hospitals

Patient engagement using health information technology (IT) functionalities can be a powerful tool in managing their own care for better health outcomes. Therefore, this study explores whether patient engagement IT functionalities and electronic health record (EHR) can affect patient safety outcomes.

Using longitudinal study design for general acute care hospitals within the United States, we examine the interaction effects of EHR and patient engagement IT functionalities on patient safety outcomes (adverse incident rate) using a generalized estimating equation.

Our national sample consisted of 9759 hospital-year observations from 2014 to 2018. Overall, we found a significant association between adverse incident rate and patient engagement level and EHR adoption level.

On average, as the combined effects of patient engagement level and EHR adoption level increases, the adverse incident rate decreases by approximately 0.49 (P < .01). Incorporating patient engagement functionalities is becoming an essential tool to improve health outcomes and will play an instrumental role in meeting meaningful use standards.

Our study provides insights into the potential synergy between a hospital's existing EHR maturity and patient engagement health IT functionalities in affecting organizational performance. Organizational culture and capabilities pertinent to adopting patient engagement health IT functionalities infrastructure should be established first to provide the impetus for this synergy.