A Personal Health Network for Chemotherapy Care Coordination: Evaluation of Usability Among Patients
Open accessAbstract
Cancer is a top concern globally. Cancer care suffers from lack of coordination, silos of information, and high cost. Interest is emerging in person-centered technology to assist with coordination to address these challenges. This study evaluates the usability of the “personal health network” (PHN), a novel solution leveraging social networking and mobile technologies, among individuals undergoing chemotherapy and receiving care coordination. Early results from interviews of 12 participants in a randomized pragmatic trial suggest that they feel more connected to the healthcare team using the PHN, find value in access to the patient education library, and are better equipped to organize the many activities that occur during chemotherapy. Improvements are needed in navigation, connectivity, and integration with electronic health records. Findings contribute to improvements in the PHN and informs a roadmap for potentially greater impact in technology-enabled cancer care coordination.
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Digital personal health network systems supported chemotherapy patients by enhancing communication with providers and improving care coordination, while usability studies identified needed refinements in data entry and connectivity.
“digital personal health network systems supported chemotherapy patients by enhancing communication with providers and improving care coordination, while usability studies identified needed refinements in data entry and connectivity [9,19].”
From User-Centered Design for Digital Patient-Navigation Tools in Oncology: Scoping Review (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
The Abstract reports that chemotherapy patients felt more connected to their healthcare team and better equipped to organize care activities; the Discussion reports support for communication and identifies connectivity problems. The Results include difficulty adding an appointment, but the paper describes refinements chiefly to navigation, scheduling, and connectivity—not data entry generally. These are early usability findings, not a demonstrated improvement in care-coordination outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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User-Centered Design for Digital Patient-Navigation Tools in Oncology: Scoping Review
Kheirinejad, S., White, B. M., Kheirkhah Rahimabad, P., Zink, J. A., Hashtarkhani, S., Kumsa, F. A., Rashid, R., Chinthala, L., Brett, C. L., Davis, R. L., et al. (2026) · JMIR Human Factors · doi:10.2196/87686
“Similarly, digital personal health network systems supported chemotherapy patients by enhancing communication with providers and improving care coordination, while usability studies identified needed refinements in data entry and connectivity [9,19].”
- Authors
- Kim Katherine, K., Bell Janice, F., Richard, B., Andra, D., Victoria, N., Reed Sarah, C., & Joseph Jill, G.
- Venue
- Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
- Publisher
- IOS Press
- Published
- 2016
- Volume
- 225
- Pages
- 232-6
- ISSN
- 0926-9630 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2464290396
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 5.25
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Locations
- Studies in health technology and informatics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- PubMed
- Funders
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Innovation in Digital Healthcare Systems
- Keywords
- cancer care coordination, usability evaluation, social networking, mobile health, patient education, electronic health record integration, patient-provider communication
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Continuity of Patient Care, Humans, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Personal Health Services, Social Support, United States, Drug Monitoring, Patient Satisfaction, Patient-Centered Care, Needs Assessment
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