Designing to Increase Usability in Consumer Health Information: Providing Consumers with Information about Access and Financial Components of Care

Abstract

The concept of improving health quality through consumer engagement is motivated by the growing cost of healthcare and allowing consumers to determine and control their own optimal care path. For consumers to utilize and engage with HIT, they must accept the design of the system. In this work, it is shown that a healthcare system designed to meet consumer’s needs, through reduced effort in accessing information, results in improved satisfaction and engagement. The healthcare system is an insurance call center that consumers use to find providers, understand payment for procedures, and get treatment decision support. It receives over 350,000 contacts per month and supports over 10 million consumers.