Patients' Perceptions of their Medical Records from Different Subject Positions

Better knowledge of the habits and preferences of patients helps one understand why and how patients might need or want to access health services online and offline. Such knowledge provides a basis for designing systems for providing complementary health information. This article discusses how patients' conceptualizations of their health-information-related preferences, motivations, and needs are linked to the perceived role of medical records as an informational artifact. We identified seven subject positions: (P1) Hypothetically positive to e-health services generally, (P2) Positive to reading medical records due to implications, (P3) Positive to all Internet use including medical records online, (P4) Distrustful and wants to be in control of health treatment, (P5) Worried about health, (P6) Wants communication with health care professionals, and (P7) Do not understand their medical record. These subject positions can explain the worry and enthusiasm documented in earlier literature. The diversity of subject positions implies that health care information services should be planned with different subject positions in mind rather than a simple demographic group. Special attention needs to be given to finding flexible solutions that address the opportunities and worries of the identified subject positions.