Table 1 An overview of the key features of the PHRs

Insight in health-related measurements

Users of the PHR for T2DM were able to see an overview (both textually and graphically) of a selection of T2DM-related health measurements from the past years, as performed at the annual check-up. A short explanation of each item was provided to support the participants with the interpretation of the values.

Education

All three PHRs contained disease- and lifestyle-related education.

Coaching

The PHRs for T2DM and COPD offer the users the possibility to add health-related goals, action plans and evaluations of these action plans. The PHR for CHF did not contain this function. The coaching function of the T2DM PHR was based on existing theories for behavior change, literature research and previous experiences and described elsewhere [25] .

Monitoring

CHF patients received equipment to monitor their weight, blood pressure, and heart rate on a daily basis (or individually adjusted in concordance with the heart failure nurse). When the monitored values were outside the pre-determined range or when no measurements were recorded, HF nurses received an alert and could subsequently contact the participant to possibly adjust the (medical) treatment.

Patients with T2DM could track their health values using their own equipment (e.g., weight, blood pressure, waist circumference). Users with COPD could track their complaints and receive an advice on whether or not to consult their care provider. Furthermore, COPD users could regularly complete the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) [31] to gain insight into the development of their clinical complaints.

Medication and co-morbidities

Users with CHF were asked to complete a list of medication and co-morbidities and to keep this list up-to-date. For the HF nurses, this overview could serve as an extra tool for the interpretation of deviating measurements.

Messaging

The COPD PHR contained an overview of caregivers with a service for sending and receiving messages to the caregivers.