White Papers Published by the Center for Information Therapy

• Ix for Rx Adherence: Research and Strategies for Improving Medication Adherence with Information Therapy
  By Cindy Throop, MSW, and Josh Seidman, PhD
  Medication adherence, the degree to which patients take medications as prescribed, is an ongoing problem with no simple or easy solution. The purpose of this paper is to consider the issue of medication adherence through the lens of information therapy (Ix). The Ix approach offers a framework for thinking through adherence from a patient perspective.
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• Navigating a Changing Health Care System: How Consumers, Clinicians and Policymakers Can Make Sense of Shared Decision Making and Information Therapy
  by Joshua Seidman, PhD, and Karen Sepucha, PhD
  Consumers and clinicians need new tools and resources to match information to individual needs and structure the way they think about health care choices and communicate about them. In order to assess how these changes are unfolding across North America, we interviewed two experts who are leading efforts to implement shared decision making and decision aids into clinical practice. This paper summarizes their views and highlights some key themes and issues for those interested in getting these types of interventions implemented.
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• Improving Population Care and Disease Management Using Ix Principles
  by Joshua Seidman, PhD, and Paul Wallace, MD
  Simply stretching today’s "sick-care" system is no longer feasible to effectively manage chronic care. A new model of care is needed—one that places the locus of control with individuals and that supports all health decisions with targeted information prescriptions.
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• Turning on the Light: Illuminating the Care Experience Through a New Consumer Paradigm for Quality Measurement
  by Joshua Seidman, PhD; and Margaret E. O'Kane
  Consumers are often “in the dark” when it comes to understanding the quality of care delivered by providers and health plans. The little information about provider quality that does exist is hard to understand, and it’s frequently not clear how the ratings were calculated. Opening the “black box” of health care performance measurement will require a consumer focus, innovative thinking, provider commitment, and an investment of scientific and practical resources.
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• The Arrival of 21^st-Century Health Care: Group Health Cooperative Reengineers Its Delivery System Around Information Therapy and Patient-Centered Informatics
  by Joshua Seidman, PhD
  This best practices paper reveals how Group Health Cooperative is revolutionizing care delivery by using information therapy and patient-centered informatics as key strategies. Members can have anytime, anywhere access to personalized health information and immediate connections to clinical support.
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• The Mysterious Maze of the World Wide Web: What Makes Internet Health Information High Quality?
  by Joshua Seidman, PhD; Donald Steinwachs, PhD; and Haya R. Rubin, MD, PhD
  Existing tools designed to help consumers find credible Internet health information focus almost exclusively on proxy measures of quality, such characteristics of the site sponsors and whether the site lists its sources. This paper presents results from the review of 90 sites with diabetes information and lays out an alternative strategy to help consumers find accurate, comprehensive health information online.
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• The Ix Evidence Base: Using Information Therapy to Cross the Quality Chasm
  by Bianca R. Gwinn, MS, and Joshua Seidman, PhD
  This white paper pulls together the empirical evidence that demonstrates how information therapy (Ix) responds to the call to action issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Specifically, self-care, self-management, shared decision making, and other Ix-related initiatives improve patient knowledge, self-efficacy, clinical quality, patient experience with care, and cost-effectiveness.
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• The Business Cases for Information Therapy
  by Donald W. Kemper, MPH
  Information prescriptions have great value for patients in helping them improve their care both at home and with their health professionals. For hospitals, clinics, and health plans, information therapy can create huge benefits that can make the difference between success and failure in today's markets.
  Click here for The Business Case for Information Therapy in Hospitals >>
  Click here for The Business Case for Information Therapy in Health Plans >>
  Click here for The Business Case for Information Therapy in Clinics >>