Development Process for Type 2 Diabetes Patient Applications: Findings from a Literature Review

For type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients, self-management of the disease is an essential part of the treatment. Patient portals and personal health records (PHRs) are powerful applications for self-managing T2D. It is however unclear what features of existing applications provide best support for self-management of type 2 diabetes. We retrieved and analyzed twenty-two studies to identify features which promote self-management of T2D. The results elicited 10 different features and showed that use of patient portals was associated with different health outcomes. Secure messaging, Viewing laboratory results, and Accessing medication history were the most common features, and some specific features were associated with health outcomes. In general, patient portals and PHRs were associated with improved health outcomes. Finally, nine overall recommendations for the development process of patient portals were identified.