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We aimed to explore and examine how and in what ways the use of social network sites (SNSs) can improve health outcomes, specifically better psychological well-being, for cancer-affected people.

This research examines the extent to which informational and emotional elements are employed in online support forums for 14 purposively sampled chronic medical conditions and the factors that influence whether posts are of a more informational or emotional nature.

Electronic health record content is created by clinicians and is driven largely by intermittent and brief encounters with patients. Collecting data directly from patients in the form of patient-generated data (PGD) provides an unprecedented opportunity to capture personal, contextual patient information that can supplement clinical data and enhance patients' self-care. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is striving to implement the enterprise-wide capability to collect and use PGD in [...]

Patient-clinician communication has been associated with increased patient satisfaction, trust in the clinician, adherence to prescribed therapy, and various health outcomes. The impact of health information technology (HIT) on the clinical encounter in general and patient-clinician communication in particular is a growing concern. The purpose of this study was to review the current literature on HIT use during the clinical encounter to update best practices and inform the continuous development [...]

Electronic medical records (EMRs) are being increasingly utilized to conduct clinical and epidemiologic research in numerous fields. To monitor and improve care of HIV-infected patients in Washington, DC, one of the most severely affected urban areas in the United States, we developed a city-wide database across 13 clinical sites using electronic data abstraction and manual data entry from EMRs.

The growing ability to collect and transmit patient-generated health data, also referred to as people-generated health data and patient-reported outcomes, is creating an opportunity to greatly improve how cancer survivors and their providers manage survivors' health in the months and years following cancer treatment. Although cancer survivors are at higher risk of chronic health problems and early death as a result of cancer treatment, some experience difficulty identifying and receiving [...]

Back pain is a global health problem. Recent research has shown that risk factors that are proximal to the onset of back pain might be important targets for preventive interventions. Rapid communication through social media might be useful for delivering timely interventions that target proximal risk factors. Identifying individuals who are likely to discuss back pain on Twitter could provide useful information to guide online interventions.

Cytokines play a central role in both health and disease, modulating immune responses and acting as diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets. This work takes a systems-level approach for integration and examination of immune patterns, such as cytokine gene expression with information from biomedical literature, and applies it in the context of disease, with the objective of identifying potentially useful relationships and areas for future research.

Measurement of patient race/ethnicity in electronic health records is mandated and important for tracking health disparities.

Personal health applications have the potential to help patients with chronic disease by improving medication adherence, self-efficacy, and quality of life. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of MyMediHealth (MMH) - a website and a short messaging service (SMS)-based reminder system - on medication adherence and perceived self-efficacy in adolescents with asthma.