Investigating the influences of person centredness and source qualifications on patient-provider communication through EMR systems

Since 2009, patients have had increasing opportunities to use online media for communicating with their physicians. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of two factors - person centredness and healthcare provider qualifications - on outcomes related to patient-provider communication through EMR systems. We designed a 3 × 2 factorial study to examine the effects of person centredness and source qualifications (MD, PA) on patient satisfaction and adherence intentions, as well as perceived healthcare provider credibility, assertiveness, and responsiveness. Participants (n = 148) completed an online questionnaire after reading a hypothetical email conversation with a healthcare provider. Results revealed main effects of person centredness on satisfaction, adherence intentions, perceived assertiveness, and perceived responsiveness, as well as significant main effects of source qualifications on source credibility and perceived assertiveness. Results also revealed significant interaction effects between person centredness and source qualifications on all outcomes but perceived assertiveness. Practical implications are discussed.