Applying Patient Segmentation Using Primary Care Electronic Medical Records to Develop a Virtual Peer-to-Peer Intervention for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Alessia Paglialonga (), Rebecca Theal, Bruce Knox, Robert Kyba, David Barber, Aziz Guergachi and Karim Keshavjee
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Alessia Paglialonga: Cnr-Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell’Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni (CNR-IEIIT), 20133 Milan, Italy
Rebecca Theal: Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3G2, Canada
Bruce Knox: Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3G2, Canada
Robert Kyba: Strategic Global Counsel, Toronto, ON M4P 1T2, Canada
David Barber: Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3G2, Canada
Aziz Guergachi: Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON M5G 2C3, Canada
Karim Keshavjee: Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M6, Canada

Future Internet, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: The aim of this study was to design a virtual peer-to-peer intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) by grouping patients from specific segments using data from primary care electronic medical records (EMRs). Two opposing segments were identified: patients living with diabetes who tend to take several medications (“medication” segment: ~32%) and patients who do not take any diabetes-specific medications (“lifestyle” segment: ~15%). The remaining patients were from two intermediate segments and exhibited medication-taking behavior that placed them midway between the medication and lifestyle segments. Patients were grouped into six workshops (two workshops in each group: medication, lifestyle, and mixed group), including individuals with good and bad control of their disease. Measures of attitudes, learning, and motivation were addressed during and after the workshops. Results showed that patients in the lifestyle segment were more interested in T2D lifestyle control strategies, more satisfied with their in-workshop learning experience, and more motivated to set a goal than those in the medication segment. These results suggest that the proposed intervention may be more viable for patients in the lifestyle segment and that EMR data may be used to tailor behavioral interventions to specific patient groups. Future research is needed to investigate different segmentation approaches (e.g., using data related to smoking, drinking, diet, and physical activity) that could help tailor the intervention more effectively.

Keywords: electronic medical records (EMRs); patient segmentation; peer-to-peer support; positive deviance; type 2 diabetes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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