Background Health organizations and patients interact over different communication channels and are harnessing digital communications for this purpose. Assisting health organizations to improve, adapt, and introduce new patient–health care practitioner communication channels (such as patient portals, mobile apps, and text messaging) enhances health care services access. Objective This retrospective data study aims to assist health care administrators and policy makers to improve and personalize communication between patients and health care professionals by expanding the capabilities of current communication channels and introducing new ones. Our main hypothesis is that patient follow-up and clinical outcomes are influenced by their preferred communication channels with the health care organization. Methods This study analyzes data stored in electronic medical records and logs documenting access to various communication channels between patients and a health organization (Clalit Health Services, Israel). Data were collected between 2008 and 2016 from records of 311,168 patients diagnosed with diabetes, aged 21 years and over, members of Clalit at least since 2007, and still alive in 2016. The analysis consisted of characterizing the use profiles of communication channels over time and used clustering for discretization purposes and patient profile building and then a hierarchical clustering and heatmaps to visualize the different communication profiles. Results A total of 13 profiles of patients were identified and characterized. We have shown how the communication channels provided by the health organization influence the communication behavior of patients. We observed how different patients respond differently to technological means of communication and change or don’t change their communication patterns with the health care organization based on the communication channels available to them. Conclusions Identifying the channels of communication within the health organization and which are preferred by each patient creates an opportunity to convey messages adapted to the patient in the most appropriate way. The greater the likelihood that the therapeutic message is received by the patient, the greater the patient's response and proactiveness to the treatment will be. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/10734

Personal health systems (PHS) are designed to provide the individual with tailored care while enabling the healthcare system to deliver high-quality care to large populations and maintain a sustainable system. Solutions using electronic health records (EHRs) that include predictive models for the risk of disease onset and deterioration enable the care provider to better identify and treat patients with chronic disease and provide personalized prevention. These tools are well-accepted by doctors and have been proven to improve health outcomes and reduce costs. Integrated telecare programs were implemented for comorbid patients showing improved clinical outcomes self-management and quality of life (QoL). However, different patient populations benefit in different ways from these care plans, and thus, continuous evaluation, service adaptation in a real-life environment set with clear outcome measures, is required for best results. The challenge of the PHS today is to acquire patient-generated data (PGD) and behavioral and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) for PHS development that can be combined with existing clinical data. Some initiatives of healthcare organizations [health maintenance organizations (HMOs)] in Israel demonstrate how this goal can be achieved with relatively small efforts by using a stepwise and agile approach to service implementation that improve service by enabling adoption and adaptation of the service in the short term while collecting data for advanced PHS development in the long term. This approach, combined with programs and incentive payments at the national level, creates an environment and infrastructure for collaboration between healthcare, academia, and industry for research, development, and implementation of future PHS. This article presents examples of PHS development and implementation from the Israeli healthcare system. We discuss the lessons learned and suggest new approaches for research, development implementation, and evaluation of PHS that will address the needs of future healthcare.

BACKGROUND Health organizations and patients interact over different communication channels and are harnessing digital communications for this purpose. Assisting health organizations improving, adapting, introducing new patient-healthcare practitioners' communication channels enhance healthcare services access. OBJECTIVE This retrospective data study aims to assist healthcare administrators and policy makers improving and personalizing the communication between patients and healthcare professionals by expanding the capabilities of current communication channels and introducing new ones. Our main hypothesis is that the patient’s follow-up and clinical outcomes are influenced by the patient’s preferred communication channels with the healthcare organization. METHODS This study analyzes data stored in electronic medical records and in logs documenting access to various communication channels between patients and a health organization (Clalit). The data was analyzed data were collected between 2008 and 2016. The 311,168 patients included were diagnosed with diabetes, aged 21 years and over, members of Clalit at least since 2007 and still alive in 2016. The analysis consisted of characterizing the usage profiles of communication channels overtime and used clustering for discretization purposes and patients’ profiles building, and then a hierarchical clustering and heatmaps to visualize the different communication profiles. RESULTS 13 profiles of patients were identified and characterized. We have shown the how the communication channels provided by the health organization influence the communication behavior of the patient. We observed how different patients respond differently to technological means of communication and change, or not, their communication patterns with the healthcare organization based on the communication channels available to them. CONCLUSIONS Identifying the channels of communication with the health organization, which are preferred by each patient, creates an opportunity to convey messages adapted to the patient in the most appropriate way. The greater the likelihood that the therapeutic message will be received by the patient, the greater the patient's response and proactiveness to the treatment will be. CLINICALTRIAL International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/10734 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.2196/10734