To better understand the needs of consumers, and barriers and challenges using APIs and apps, ONC reviewed nine unstructured discussions which were conducted with patient representative and consumer organizations to provide relevant insights based upon their expertise or roles engaging consumers in advocacy, policy, products, or research. The discussions sought perspectives on consumer use and adoption of APIs and apps to access their health information, barriers to adoption, and challenges with accessing or sharing data from EHR systems
Once a consumer is motivated to seek an app to access, use, or share health data, discussion participants reported that the interface and utility, as well as the user’s overall experience with the app, may influence sustained use. Conversations with discussion participants revealed two main requisites: (1) the apps must reduce the burden of manually accessing health data and using it for the intended purpose, and (2) the data must be of value
Discussion participants spoke clearly about the need for APIs and apps to reduce the time consumers spend obtaining their health data from multiple sources, manage their health or condition, and – if desired – share the information.
Discussion participants defined four characteristics of valuable data within an app:
1) Interoperable
2) Detailed
3) Accurate
4) Timely
These characteristics are relevant to any use or presentation of health data for consumer consumption, such as via a patient portal or other app.
