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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Apr 16;17(1):202.
doi: 10.1186/s13063-016-1326-0.

Improving maternity care using a personal health record: study protocol for a stepped-wedge, randomised, controlled trial

Carola J M Groenen  1 , Marjan J Faber  2 , Jan A M Kremer  2 , Frank P H A Vandenbussche  3 , Noortje T L van Duijnhoven  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Improving maternity care using a personal health record: study protocol for a stepped-wedge, randomised, controlled trial

Carola J M Groenen et al. Trials. .

Abstract

Background: A personal health record (PHR) is an online application through which individuals can access, manage, and share their health information in a private, secure, and confidential environment. Personal health records empower patients, facilitate collaboration among healthcare professionals, and improve health outcomes. Given these anticipated positive effects, we want to implement a PHR, named MyPregn@ncy, in a Dutch maternity care setting and to evaluate its effects in routine care. This paper presents the study protocol.

Methods/design: The effects of implementing a PHR in maternity care on patients and professionals will be identified in a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised, controlled trial. The study will be performed in the region of Nijmegen, a Dutch area with an average of 4,500 births a year and more than 230 healthcare professionals involved in maternity care. Data analyses will describe the effects of MyPregn@ncy on health outcomes in maternity care, quality of care from the patients' perspectives, and collaboration among healthcare professionals. Additionally, a process evaluation of the implementation of MyPregn@ncy will be performed. Data will be collected using data from the Dutch perinatal registry, questionnaires, interviews, and log data.

Discussion: The study is expected to yield new information about the effects, strengths, possibilities, and challenges to the implementation and usage of a PHR in routine maternal care settings. Results may lead to new insights and improvements in the quality of maternal and perinatal care.

Trial registration: Netherlands Trial Register: NTR4063.

Keywords: Maternity care; Personal Health Record; Protocol; Stepped-wedge; cluster-randomised; controlled trial.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic overview of the study process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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