Adapting comparative effectiveness research summaries for delivery to patients and providers through a patient portal

Abstract

Despite increases in the scientific evidence for a variety of medical treatments, a gap remains in the adoption of best medical practices. This manuscript describes a process for adapting published summary guides from comparative effectiveness research to render them concise, targeted to audience, and easily actionable; and a strategy for disseminating such evidence to patients and their physicians through a web-based portal and linked electronic health record. This project adapted summary guides about oral medications for adults with type 2 diabetes to a fifth-grade literacy level and modified the resulting materials based on evaluations with the Suitability Assessment of Materials instrument. Focus groups and individual interviews with patients, diabetes providers, and health literacy experts were employed to evaluate and enhance the adapted summary guide. We present the lessons learned as general guidelines for the creation of concise, targeted, and actionable evidence and its delivery to both patients and providers through increasingly prevalent health information technologies.

Figure 1:

The iAdapt resource in the MHAV Patient Portal. This screen shows features described in the text including: personalized drug chart, pronunciation guide and audio file, Fast Facts, volunteer solicitation, and the top of the AHRQ management guides, included our adapted summary guide.

Figure 3:

Screenshot of iAdapt resource in the MHAV Patient Portal Note: Figure 3 shows the rest of the AHRQ materials, share tools, and the supplementary physical activity, nutrition, and information links.

Figure 3.

This figure demonstrates the process of type 2 diabetes graphically.

Figure 4:

Quick Type 2 Diabetes Summary Guide Note: Figure 1 shows the study’s one-page adaptation of the AHRQ summary guides. At the top are 4 things to know about a patient’s diabetes pills, and how to manage type 2 diabetes with pills. The middle is comprised of side effects, and what merits an emergency side effect. The chart at the bottom indicates which side effects are most closely associated with each oral medication for type 2 diabetes.