The Drug Information Center Arthritis Project: Providing Patients with Interactive and Reliable Arthritis Internet Education

The objective of the Drug Information Center Arthritis Project was to create and assess the value of a patient-focused interactive arthritis education program. A multidisciplinary team developed three content areas: an interactive ask-a-pharmacist component with a satisfaction survey; health assessment tools (SF-8™, osteoarthritis [OA] Impact Survey™, and rheumatoid arthritis [RA] Impact Survey™); and disease and drug information. Results: There were 1,800 patients with OA, RA, or both from a collaborating rheumatology practice who were invited to use a personalized, interactive, secured Internet arthritis Web site. During a 6-week pilot, 56 patients accessed the site for a total of 128 visits. Patient satisfaction scores showed that 83% of patients rated the site as useful to very useful; 83 % would both use the site again and recommend the site to a friend. Overall health-related quality of life as measured by the SF-8 physical and mental component scores and the OA and RA Impact Surveys for patients accessing the Web site was slightly higher than the US population norms for patients with arthritis. Conclusions: To our knowledge, there are no other Web sites that provide confidential, patient-specific arthritis Internet information as an extension of a rheumatology practice. Our Web site provided novel access to personalized, evidence-based, and up-to-date information for patients.