Women's experiences of using patient portals in healthcare settings: a rapid review.

BACKGROUND: The integration of patient portals into health systems has the potential to increase access for women. For example, within a mental health context, women are at a higher risk of developing anxiety and depression but may experience barriers in accessing care. Therefore, the aim of this rapid review was to understand what is currently known about patient portal use among women. The objectives were (1) To discover pertinent facilitators for women when using patient portals; (2) To discern if women face individual barriers to accessing patient portals; and (3) To explore the potential role of patient portals for women's mental health care. METHODS: A rapid review methodology was implemented using the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group, as well as a grey literature scan. Inclusion criteria included articles that focused on women's use of patient portals within healthcare settings. Four databases were searched, including Embase, MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL and PsycINFO in September 2023. Two independent reviewers performed screening, data extraction, and analysis. RESULTS: This search resulted in screening 1385 titles and abstracts, and 82 articles for full-text eligibility. 15 articles were included in the review. Data were extracted and analyzed, guided by the research objectives. Facilitators to patient portal use included processes that enhanced user engagement, the provision of portal tools, and management of health care features. Barriers included health equity factors and use of medical jargon. Applications to mental health care included how use of portals eased women's anxiety and increased their sense of internal control. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this review indicate that interrelated factors influence women's experiences with using patient portals. By understanding facilitators and barriers to portal use, and applications for mental health care, we can understand how to improve women's use of portals in the future.

Shifting Mindsets: The Impact of a Patient Portal on Functioning and Recovery in a Mental Health Setting.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand whether higher use of a patient portal can have an impact on mental health functioning and recovery. METHOD: A mixed methods approach was used for this study. In 2019-2021, patients with mental health diagnoses at outpatient clinics in an academic centre were invited to complete World Health Organization Disability Assessment Scale 12 (WHODAS-12) and Mental Health Recovery Measure surveys at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months after signing up for the portal. At the 3-month time point, patients were invited to a semistructured interview with a member of the team to contextualize the findings obtained from the surveys. Analytics data was also collected from the platform to understand usage patterns on the portal. RESULTS: Overall, 113 participants were included in the analysis. There was no significant change in mental health functioning and recovery scores over the 6-month period. However, suboptimal usage was observed as 46% of participants did not complete any tasks within the portal. Thirty-five participants had low use of the portal (1-9 interactions) and 18 participants had high usage (10+ interactions). There were also no differences in mental health functioning and recovery scores between low and high users of the portal. Qualitative interviews highlighted many opportunities where the portal can support overall functioning and mental health recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, this study suggests that higher use of a portal had no impact, either positive or negative, on mental health outcomes. While it may offer convenience and improved patient satisfaction, adequate support is needed to fully enable these opportunities for patient care. As the type of interaction with the portal was not specifically addressed, future work should focus on looking at ways to support patient engagement and portal usage throughout their care journey.

Patient Portals Fail to Collect Structured Information About Who Else is Involved in a Person's Care.

The US health care delivery system does not systematically engage or support family or friend care partners. Meanwhile, the uptake and familiarity of portals to personal health information are increasing among patients. Technology innovations, such as shared access to the portal, use separate identity credentials to differentiate between patients and care partners. Although not well-known, or commonly used, shared access allows patients to identify who they do and do not want to be involved in their care. However, the processes for patients to grant shared access to portals are often limited or so onerous that interested patients and care partners often circumvent the process entirely. As a result, the vast majority of care partners resort to accessing portals using a patient's identity credentials-a "do-it-yourself" solution in conflict with a health systems' legal responsibility to protect patient privacy and autonomy. The personal narratives in this viewpoint (shared by permission) elaborate on quantitative studies and provide first-person snapshots of challenges faced by patients and families as they attempt to gain or grant shared access during crucial moments in their lives. As digital modalities increase patient roles in health care interactions, so does the importance of making shared access work for all stakeholders involved-patients, clinicians, and care partners. Electronic health record vendors must recognize that both patients and care partners are important users of their products, and health care organizations must acknowledge and support the critical contributions of care partners as distinct from patients.

A Nordic Perspective on Patient Online Record Access and the European Health Data Space.

The Nordic countries are, together with the United States, forerunners in online record access (ORA), which has now become widespread. The importance of accessible and structured health data has also been highlighted by policy makers internationally. To ensure the full realization of ORA's potential in the short and long term, there is a pressing need to study ORA from a cross-disciplinary, clinical, humanistic, and social sciences perspective that looks beyond strictly technical aspects. In this viewpoint paper, we explore the policy changes in the European Health Data Space (EHDS) proposal to advance ORA across the European Union, informed by our research in a Nordic-led project that carries out the first of its kind, large-scale international investigation of patients' ORA-NORDeHEALTH (Nordic eHealth for Patients: Benchmarking and Developing for the Future). We argue that the EHDS proposal will pave the way for patients to access and control third-party access to their electronic health records. In our analysis of the proposal, we have identified five key principles for ORA: (1) the right to access, (2) proxy access, (3) patient input of their own data, (4) error and omission rectification, and (5) access control. ORA implementation today is fragmented throughout Europe, and the EHDS proposal aims to ensure all European citizens have equal online access to their health data. However, we argue that in order to implement the EHDS, we need more research evidence on the key ORA principles we have identified in our analysis. Results from the NORDeHEALTH project provide some of that evidence, but we have also identified important knowledge gaps that still need further exploration.

Equivalence of Alcohol Use Disorder Symptom Assessments in Routine Clinical Care When Completed Remotely via Online Patient Portals Versus In Clinic via Paper Questionnaires: Psychometric Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) recommends the paper-based or computerized Alcohol Symptom Checklist to assess alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms in routine care when patients report high-risk drinking. However, it is unknown whether Alcohol Symptom Checklist response characteristics differ when it is administered online (eg, remotely via an online electronic health record [EHR] patient portal before an appointment) versus in clinic (eg, on paper after appointment check-in). OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the psychometric performance of the Alcohol Symptom Checklist when completed online versus in clinic during routine clinical care. METHODS: This cross-sectional, psychometric study obtained EHR data from the Alcohol Symptom Checklist completed by adult patients from an integrated health system in Washington state. The sample included patients who had a primary care visit in 2021 at 1 of 32 primary care practices, were due for annual behavioral health screening, and reported high-risk drinking on the behavioral health screen (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption score ≥7). After screening, patients with high-risk drinking were typically asked to complete the Alcohol Symptom Checklist-an 11-item questionnaire on which patients self-report whether they had experienced each of the 11 AUD criteria listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) over a past-year timeframe. Patients could complete the Alcohol Symptom Checklist online (eg, on a computer, smartphone, or tablet from any location) or in clinic (eg, on paper as part of the rooming process at clinical appointments). We examined sample and measurement characteristics and conducted differential item functioning analyses using item response theory to examine measurement consistency across these 2 assessment modalities. RESULTS: Among 3243 patients meeting eligibility criteria for this secondary analysis (2313/3243, 71% male; 2271/3243, 70% White; and 2014/3243, 62% non-Hispanic), 1640 (51%) completed the Alcohol Symptom Checklist online while 1603 (49%) completed it in clinic. Approximately 46% (752/1640) and 48% (764/1603) reported ≥2 AUD criteria (the threshold for AUD diagnosis) online and in clinic (P=.37), respectively. A small degree of differential item functioning was observed for 4 of 11 items. This differential item functioning produced only minimal impact on total scores used clinically to assess AUD severity, affecting total criteria count by a maximum of 0.13 criteria (on a scale ranging from 0 to 11). CONCLUSIONS: Completing the Alcohol Symptom Checklist online, typically prior to patient check-in, performed similarly to an in-clinic modality typically administered on paper by a medical assistant at the time of the appointment. Findings have implications for using online AUD symptom assessments to streamline workflows, reduce staff burden, reduce stigma, and potentially assess patients who do not receive in-person care. Whether modality of DSM-5 assessment of AUD differentially impacts treatment is unknown.

Use of a web-based portal to return normal individual research results in Early Check: Exploring user behaviors and attitudes.

Early Check is a voluntary, large-scale expanded newborn screening study in North Carolina that uses a self-directed web-based portal for return of normal individual research results (IRR). Little is known about participant perspectives in using web-based portals to receive IRR. This study explored user attitudes and behaviors within the Early Check portal using three methods: (1) a feedback survey available to the consenting parent of participating infants (typically mothers), (2) semi-structured interviews conducted with a subset of parents, and (3) Google Analytics. During an approximate 3-year period, 17 936 newborns received normal IRR and there were 27 812 visits to the portal. Most surveyed parents reported viewing their baby's results (86%, 1410/1639). Parents largely found the portal easy to use to get results, and helpful in understanding the results. However, 10% of parents said it was difficult to find enough information to understand their baby's results. In Early Check, providing normal IRR via the portal made a large-scale study practical, and was highly rated by most users. Return of normal IRR may be particularly amenable to web-based portals, as the consequences to participants from not viewing results are modest, and the interpretation of a normal result is relatively straightforward.

Moving Away from Chaos: Intentional and Adaptive Management of the Non-visit Care River.

In modern primary care practice, clinicians face increasing volumes of asynchronous, electronic, non-visit care (NVC). Systems for completing this work, however, remain under-developed and often lack definition around patient and practice expectations for work completion and team member contributions. The resulting reactive, unstructured, and unscheduled NVC workflows cause and exacerbate physicians' cognitive overload, distraction, and dissatisfaction. Herein, we propose that primary care practices take an intentional, holistic approach to managing systems of NVC and offer a conceptual model for managing NVC work, analogizing the flow of these tasks to the flow of water through a river system: (1) by carefully controlling the inputs into the NVC system (the tributaries entering the river system); (2) by carefully defining the workflows, roles and responsibilities for completion of common tasks (the direction of river flow); (3) by improving the interface of the electronic health record (obstacles encountered in the river); and (4) by optimizing effectiveness of primary care teams (the contours of the river determining rate of flow). This framework for managing NVC, viewed from a broader system perspective, has the potential to improve productivity, quality of care, and clinician work experience.

Views on patient portal use for adolescents in mental health care - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Digitalization of health care has opened up for new ways to involve and engage patients. With this, increased attention has been put on digital patient portals. There exists some research on patient portals for adolescent patients in general and for adults in mental health care. However, no studies on patient portals for adolescents in mental health care have been identified in a recent review. The aim was therefore to explore the views on using patient portals for adolescents in mental health care among persons involved in and/or being affected by the introduction of a patient portal. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews with 14 persons who were healthcare providers in child and adolescent mental health care, young representatives from the user panel, or persons affiliated with an EHR-project introducing a patient portal. The main questions addressed their views on introducing patient portals for adolescents in mental health care and how patient portals and access to clinical notes can affect them and their treatment. RESULTS: The findings were categorised into four main themes; "Does access to a patient portal help or harm adolescents?", "Who decides access?", "Mostly a political goal" and "Need for support and competency". Informants mentioned situations in which both adolescents' and parents' access to a patient portal could help adolescents in mental health care, but also where it could potentially harm their treatment and threaten confidentiality. Most informants thought that healthcare providers should have the autonomy to determine which information should be shared with whom, but also requested guidelines to ensure equal practice and support in difficult situations. Some perceived patient portals as the result of a political decision, rather than healthcare providers´ wishes, while others described it as a necessary development towards democratization. CONCLUSION: The informants' views varied from thinking that a patient portal could support adolescents in mental health care, to worrying that it could be detrimental to the treatment. Informants emphasized that the management should facilitate training and support for healthcare providers in using patient portals and telehealth.

Interest in using patient portals among adolescents in mental health care - a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents in mental health care may benefit from using patient portals to access personalised information about their health and treatment. While no studies have considered the interest in using patient portals among adolescents in mental health care, factors such as patient activation, self-reported health, depressive symptoms, diagnosis, healthcare utilisation, and eHealth literacy have been found to be associated with interest in and use of patient portals in other patient groups. Therefore, the aim was to explore the associations between interest in using patient portals and patient activation, self-reported health, depressive symptoms, diagnosis, healthcare utilisation and eHealth literacy among adolescents in specialist mental health care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study among adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age receiving or having received treatment at four different specialist child and adolescent mental healthcare services across Norway. The adolescents´ answers to the questionnaire were linked to data on their healthcare utilisation and ICD-10 diagnoses from the Norwegian Patient Registry. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and bivariate tests. RESULTS: The 53 adolescents who participated, had a mean age of 15 years and 68% of them identified as female. Two out of three (64%) were interested in using patient portals. Most of the factors were not associated with interest in using patient portals. However, adolescents with mental and behavioural disorders (F diagnoses, 75% interested) were more interested in using patient portals compared to those with symptoms and signs involving cognition, perception, emotional state, and behaviour (R diagnoses, 31% interested). CONCLUSION: Except for mental health diagnosis, this study did not identify any specific factors likely to impact patient portal interest among adolescents in specialist mental health care.

General Practices' Experiences With Patients' Web-Based Access to Medical Records: Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Patients' web-based access to their medical records is expected to promote their role and responsibility in managing their own health and treatments and supporting shared decision-making. As of July 2020, general practices in the Netherlands are legally obliged to provide their patients access to their electronic medical records. Web-based access provision is facilitated and stimulated through a national support program named OPEN. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate general practice staff experiences with providing web-based access; investigate its impact on patient consultations, administrative actions, and patient inquiries; and investigate how it affects routine general practice workflow processes. METHODS: In October 2021, a total of 3813 general practices in the Netherlands were invited to complete a web-based survey that included questions regarding their experiences with the provision of web-based access to medical records and how it affects routine general practice workflow. Responses of general practices that started providing web-based access before 2020, in 2020, or in 2021 were analyzed to identify trends. RESULTS: Of 3813 invited general practices, 523 (13.72%) completed the survey. Approximately all responding general practices (487/523, 93.1%) indicated that they provide web-based access. Experiences with patients' web-based access were diverse, with 36.9% (178/482) primarily positive, 8.1% (39/482) primarily negative, 42.3% (204/482) neutral, and 12.7% (61/482) could not (yet) indicate how they experienced web-based access. Of the total, two-thirds (311/473, 65.8%) reported an increase in e-consultations and a similar percentage (302/474, 63.7%) indicated an increase in administrative actions associated with web-based access provision. A small proportion of the practices (≤10%) experienced a decrease in patient contacts. Earlier adoption of web-based access was associated with a more positive attitude toward web-based access and more positive experienced effects related to patient contacts and general practice workflow. CONCLUSIONS: The surveyed general practices mainly experienced providing web-based access as either neutral or mostly positive, despite an increased number of patient contacts and administrative burden that were associated with its adoption. Periodic monitoring of experiences is needed to understand the temporal or structural nature of both the intended and unintended effects of patients' web-based access to medical records for general practices and their staff.

The Effects of Online Access to General Practice Medical Records Perceived by Patients: Longitudinal Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Patient online access to medical records is assumed to facilitate patient empowerment and advance patient-centered health care. However, to date, the actual effects of online access to medical records perceived by patients and other outcomes are insufficiently empirically tested. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of online access to medical records on patient empowerment, informed decision-making, and the patient-provider relationship perceived by patients. METHODS: A nationwide, 2-wave, longitudinal survey study was conducted among Dutch adults (N=2402). Linear regression analyses were performed. In model 1, the perceived effects of online access to medical records (measured at T1 [first measurement; July 2021]) on 16 outcomes (measured at T2 [second measurement; January 2022]), which were associated with the use of online access to general practice medical records in previous research, were investigated. Model 2 included sociodemographic factors and patient characteristics as confounders. RESULTS: Users indicated more strongly than nonusers that online access to medical records would increase their participation in health care, improve the relationship with their general practitioner, and support informed decision-making. These results were robust when adjusted for the influence of confounders. Effect sizes were very small, with unstandardized regression coefficients (B) ranging between -0.39 and 0.28. Higher digital and health literacy were associated with higher ratings of almost all effects. CONCLUSIONS: Online access to medical records has the potential to empower patients and foster informed decision-making among patients. The effects in this study were small but might grow over time. Other factors, such as the attitude of general practitioners toward online access to medical records, might moderate these effects. The results indicate that the potential benefits of online access to medical records might be unevenly distributed. We suggest future exploration of the conditions under which online access to medical records can improve health care system functioning and efficiency without increasing health inequality.

Utilization of patient portals: a cross-sectional study investigating associations with mobile app quality.

BACKGROUND: Mobile apps facilitate patients' access to portals and interaction with their healthcare providers. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend globally, but little evidence exists on patient portal usage in the Middle East, where internet access and digital literacy are limited. Our study aimed to explore how users utilize a patient portal through its related mobile app (MyChart by EPIC). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of MyChart users, recruited from a tertiary care center in Lebanon. We collected MyChart usage patterns, perceived outcomes, and app quality, based on the Mobile Application Rating Scale (user version, uMARS), and sociodemographic factors. We examined associations between app usage, app quality, and sociodemographic factors using Pearson's correlations, Chi-square, ANOVA, and t-tests. RESULTS: 428 users completed the survey; they were primarily female (63%), aged 41.3 ± 15.6 years, with a higher education level (87%) and a relatively high crowding index of 1.4 ± 0.6. Most of the sample was in good and very good health (78%) and had no chronic illnesses (67%), and accessed the portal through MyChart once a month or less (76%). The most frequently used features were accessing health records (98%), scheduling appointments (67%), and messaging physicians (56%). According to uMARS completers (n = 200), the objective quality score was 3.8 ± 0.5, and the subjective quality was 3.6 ± 0.7. No significant association was found between overall app usage and the mobile app quality measured via uMARS. Moreover, app use frequency was negatively associated with education, socioeconomic status, and perceived health status. On the other hand, app use was positively related to having chronic conditions, the number of physician visits and subjective app quality. CONCLUSION: The patient portal usage was not associated with app quality but with some of the participants' demographic factors. The app offers a user-friendly, good-quality interface to patient health records and physicians, appreciated chiefly by users with relatively low socioeconomic status and education. While this is encouraging, more research is needed to capture the usage patterns and perceptions of male patients and those with even lower education and socioeconomic status, to make patient portals more inclusive.

Acceptability of Health Information Exchange and Patient Portal Use in Depression Care Among Underrepresented Patients.

BACKGROUND: Depression is often untreated or undertreated, particularly among underrepresented groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals of lower socioeconomic status. Electronic health information exchange (HIE) is a recommended practice to improve care coordination and encourage patient engagement in services, but it remains underutilized in depression care. Understanding factors affecting acceptance and adoption of this technology among underrepresented patient populations is needed to increase dissemination of HIE within mental health treatment. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to identify patient barriers and facilitators towards the acceptance of HIE within the context of depression treatment and to examine how HIE impacts depression-related care coordination and patient activation. DESIGN: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 27 patients. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents were English-speaking adults (> 18) receiving depression treatment within a large, safety-net primary care clinic. APPROACH: A grounded theory approach was used to code and analyze data for emergent themes. Thematic analysis was guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, a leading informatics theory used to predict end-user adoption of technology. KEY RESULTS: Respondents reported that HIE made depression care more convenient, transparent, and trustworthy. Though respondents desired greater access to their health records, stigma surrounding depression inhibited acceptance of electronic communication and information sharing. Confusing electronic interface also diminished perceived benefits of HIE. CONCLUSION(S): Respondents desire greater transparency in their depression care. While HIE was perceived to improve the overall quality of depression care, stigma associated with mental illness undermined more robust adoption of this technology among underserved populations.

Patients' Experiences of Web-Based Access to Electronic Health Records in Finland: Cross-sectional Survey.

BACKGROUND: Patient portals that provide access to electronic health records offer a means for patients to better understand and self-manage their health. Yet, patient access to electronic health records raises many concerns among physicians, and little is known about the use practices and experiences of patients who access their electronic health records via a mature patient portal that has been available for citizens for over five years. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify patients' experiences using a national patient portal to access their electronic health records. In particular, we focused on understanding usability-related perceptions and the benefits and challenges of reading clinical notes written by health care professionals. METHODS: Data were collected from 3135 patient users of the Finnish My Kanta patient portal through a web-based survey in June 2021 (response rate: 0.7%). Patients received an invitation to complete the questionnaire when they logged out of the patient portal. Respondents were asked to rate the usability of the patient portal, and the ratings were used to calculate approximations of the System Usability Scale score. Patients were also asked about the usefulness of features, and whether they had discussed the notes with health professionals. Open-ended questions were used to ask patients about their experiences of the benefits and challenges related to reading health professionals' notes. RESULTS: Overall, patient evaluations of My Kanta were positive, and its usability was rated as good (System Usability Scale score approximation: mean 72.7, SD 15.9). Patients found the portal to be the most useful for managing prescriptions and viewing the results of examinations and medical notes. Viewing notes was the most frequent reason (978/3135, 31.2%) for visiting the portal. Benefits of reading the notes mentioned by patients included remembering and understanding what was said by health professionals and the instructions given during an appointment, the convenience of receiving information about health and care, the capability to check the accuracy of notes, and using the information to support self-management. However, there were challenges related to difficulty in understanding medical terminology, incorrect or inadequate notes, missing notes, and usability. CONCLUSIONS: Patients actively used medical notes to receive information to follow professionals' instructions to take care of their health, and patient access to electronic health records can support self-management. However, for the benefits to be realized, improvements in the quality and availability of medical professionals' notes are necessary. Providing a standard information structure could help patients find the information they need. Furthermore, linking notes to vocabularies and other information sources could also improve the understandability of medical terminology; patient agency could be supported by allowing them to add comments to their notes, and patient trust of the system could be improved by allowing them to control the visibility of the professionals' notes.

Patient and Provider Experience of Electronic Patient Portals and Secure Messaging in Mental Health Treatment.

Objective: Electronic health record patient portals were promoted to enhance patient engagement. However, organizations often deny patient access to records of treatment for mental health disorders. This study explores patient and provider experience of patient electronic access to the mental health treatment record and the use of secure messaging. Materials and Methods: Online surveys of a sample of mental health patients (N = 168) and providers (N = 80) addressed their experience using patient portals and secure messaging. Results: Only 29 of the 80 providers (36%) worked at organizations which provided patients electronic access to mental health records. Of these 29 providers, 72% endorsed that patients requested a change in the provider note, 69% endorsed patients asked more questions, 55% endorsed patients reported they experienced significant distress after accessing portal, and 21% reported patients engaged in negative and/or self-destructive behavior toward themselves or others. Of patients with access to mental health notes (N = 37), 86% endorsed that they gained a better understanding of what was discussed in the appointment, 84% trusted their health care provider more, 76% felt comforted or relieved after reading their health information, and 57% reported they were better able to take medications as prescribed. Both patients and providers enjoyed the efficiency of secure messaging. Open-text responses are also presented. Conclusions: The implementation of electronic access to mental health notes requires a transition from viewing the medical record as the exclusive tool of providers to that of a collaborative tool for patients and providers to achieve treatment goals.

Geographic Location Impacts Patient Portal Use via Desktop and Mobile Devices.

Disparities in patient portal use are impacted by individuals' access to technology and the internet as well as their skills and health behaviors. An individual's geographic location may impact these factors as well as contribute to their decision to use a portal, their choice of device to access the portal, and their use of portal functions. This study evaluated patient portal use by geographic location according to three comparators: proximity to the medical center offering the portal, urban/rural classification, and degree of digital distress. Patients residing farther from the medical center, in rural areas, or in areas of higher digital distress were less likely to be active portal users. Patients in areas of higher digital distress were more likely to use the mobile portal application instead of the desktop portal website alone. Users of the mobile portal application used portal functions more frequently, and being a mobile user had a greater impact on the use of some portal functions by patients residing in areas of higher digital distress. Mobile patient portal applications have the potential to increase portal use, but work is needed to ensure equitable internet access, to promote mobile patient portal applications, and to cultivate individuals' skills to use portals.

Encouraging Digital Patient Portal Use in Ambulatory Surgery: A Mixed Method Research of Patients and Health Care Professionals Experiences and Perceptions.

PURPOSE: As more complex surgery is performed in 1-day admissions there is a growing demand for appropriate postoperative follow-up. A digital patient portal (DPP) is a promising tool to support this and increase patients' quality of recovery. However, both patients and health care professionals have not fully embraced this eHealth technology. This study investigates the extent to which a patient portal is used in a tertiary ambulatory surgical care unit and assesses usability, applicability and user-friendliness both for the patient and health care worker. DESIGN: Mixed method research design combining qualitative and quantitative methods. METHODS: Four hundred and fifteen patients undergoing knee arthroscopic surgery or endonasal sinus surgery were included. Quantitative log data from the patient platform, clinical outcome measures and a patient questionnaire were used. Additionally, qualitative data was collected through interviews (with patients, n = 13; involved caregivers and physicians, n = 7) and observations (first introduction to patient with platform and team meetings, n = 15). FINDINGS: Forty percent of the included patients effectively used the patient platform (≥1 login). The patients mainly used the platform for gathering information; 62% of the active patients on the platform registered questionnaires initiated from the surgery center (eg, preoperative questionnaire) or diaries (e.g, daily follow-up using the Quality of Recovery Scale). Different barriers and facilitators toward DPP implementation were noted. Attention should be paid to the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for using the portal and to the added value of the portal for the patient and health care professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Patients' perceptions of the DPP were positive and an increase in DPP use was observed during the study due to adjustments (eg, technical adjustments). However, a decline over time was noticed. The role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of all included parties needs to be further corroborated.

Case study of the integration of electronic patient-reported outcomes as standard of care in a head and neck oncology practice: Obstacles and opportunities.

BACKGROUND: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) allow for the direct measurement of functional and psychosocial effects related to treatment. However, technological barriers, survey fatigue, and clinician adoption have hindered the meaningful integration of PROs into clinical care. The objective of the authors was to develop an electronic PROs (ePROs) program that meets a range of clinical needs across a head and neck multidisciplinary disease management team. METHODS: The authors developed the ePROs module using literature review and stakeholder input in collaboration with health informatics. They designed an ePROs platform that was integrated as the standard of care for personalized survey delivery by diagnosis across the disease management team. Tableau software was used to create dashboards for data visualization and monitoring at the clinical enterprise, disease subsite, and patient levels. All patients who were treated for head and neck cancer were eligible for ePROs assessment as part of the standard of care. A descriptive analysis of ePROs program implementation is presented herein. RESULTS: The Head and Neck Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has integrated ePROs into clinical care. Surveys are delivered via the patient portal at the time of diagnosis and longitudinally through care. From August 1, 2018, to February 1, 2020, a total of 4154 patients completed ePROs surveys. The average patient participation rate was 69%, with a median time for completion of 5 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Integration of the head and neck ePROs program as part of clinical care is feasible and could be used to assess value and counsel patients in the future. Continued qualitative assessments of stakeholders and workflow will refine content and enhance the health informatics platform. LAY SUMMARY: Patients with head and neck cancer experience significant changes in their quality of life after treatment. Measuring and integrating patient-reported outcomes as a part of clinical care have been challenging given the multimodal treatment options, vast subsites, and unique domains affected. The authors present a case study of the successful integration of electronic patient-reported outcomes into a high-volume head and neck cancer practice.

Behavioral Intentions to Use Patient Portals to Disclose HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing Histories with Sexual Partners Among U.S. Sexual Minority Men.

Disclosure of HIV and other sexually transmitted infection (HIV/STI) testing history to sexual partners is low among gay, bisexual, and other U.S. sexual minority men (SMM). Patient portals (PP) could increase HIV/STI testing history disclosure. This study estimated the predictive validity of the Enhancing Dyadic Communication (EDC) latent construct for perceived behavioral intentions to use PP for HIV/STI test disclosures. A randomized subset of SMM completed the Patient Portal Sexual Health Instrument as part of the 2018 American Men's Internet Survey. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated associations between EDC and intentions to use PP for test disclosures. Among a sample of 1,509 SMM aged 15 to 77 years, EDC was associated with intentions to use PP to disclose test history with main partners (aOR 2.17; 95% CI 1.90 to 2.47) and non-main partners (aOR 2.39; 95%CI 2.07 to 2.76). Assessing EDC could be useful in clinical settings for interventions encouraging patients to communicate with partners about testing.

RESUMEN: La divulgación del historial de pruebas del VIH y otras infecciones de transmisión sexual (VIH / ITS) a las parejas sexuales es baja entre los homosexuales, bisexuales y otros hombres de minorías sexuales (SMM) de EE. UU. Los portales de pacientes (PP) podrían aumentar la divulgación del historial de pruebas de VIH / ITS. Este estudio estimó la validez predictiva del constructo latente Mejora de la comunicación diádica (EDC) para las intenciones conductuales percibidas de usar PP para las revelaciones de pruebas de VIH / ITS. Un subconjunto aleatorio de SMM completó el Instrumento de salud sexual del portal para pacientes como parte de la Encuesta de Internet de hombres estadounidenses de 2018. Los modelos de regresión logística multivariable estimaron asociaciones entre EDC e intenciones de usar PP para divulgaciones de pruebas. Entre una muestra de 1.509 SMM de entre 15 y 77 años, la EDC se asoció con las intenciones de utilizar PP para revelar el historial de pruebas con los socios principales (ORa = 2,17; IC del 95% = 1,90 a 2,47) y socios no principales (ORa = 2,39; IC del 95% = 2,07 a 2,76). La evaluación de EDC podría ser útil en entornos clínicos para intervenciones que alienten a los pacientes a comunicarse con sus socios sobre las pruebas.

Determinants of Use of the Care Information Exchange Portal: Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Sharing electronic health records with patients has been shown to improve patient safety and quality of care. Patient portals represent a convenient tool to enhance patient access to their own health care data. However, the success of portals will only be possible through sustained adoption by its end users: the patients. A better understanding of the characteristics of users and nonusers is critical for understanding which groups remain excluded from using such tools. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to identify the determinants of the use of the Care Information Exchange, a shared patient portal program in the United Kingdom. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a web-based questionnaire. Information collected included age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, health status, postcode, and digital literacy. Registered individuals were defined as having had an account created in the portal, independent of their actual use of the platform; users were defined as having ever used the portal. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model the probability of being a user. Statistical analysis was performed in R and Tableau was used to create maps of the proportion of Care Information Exchange users by postcode area. RESULTS: A total of 1083 participants replied to the survey (186% of the estimated minimum target sample). The proportion of users was 61.58% (667/1083). Among these, most (385/667, 57.7%) used the portal at least once a month. To characterize the system's users and nonusers, we performed a subanalysis of the sample, including only participants who had provided at least information regarding gender and age. The subanalysis included 650 individuals (389/650, 59.8% women; 551/650, 84.8% >40 years). Most participants were White (498/650, 76.6%) and resided in London (420/650, 64.6%). Individuals with a higher educational degree (undergraduate and professional, or postgraduate and higher) had higher odds of being a portal user (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.58, 95% CI 1.04-2.39 and OR 2.38, 95% CI 1.42-4.02, respectively) compared with those with a secondary degree or below. Higher digital literacy scores (≥30) were associated with higher odds of being a user (adjusted OR 2.96, 95% CI 2.02-4.35). Those with a good overall health status had lower odds of being a user (adjusted OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37-0.91). CONCLUSIONS: This work adds to the growing body of evidence highlighting the importance of educational aspects (educational level and digital literacy) in the adoption of patient portals. Further research should not only describe but also systematically address these inequalities through patient-centered interventions aimed at reducing the digital divide. Health care providers and policy makers must partner in investing and delivering strategic programs that improve access to technology and digital literacy in an effort to improve digital inclusion and reduce inequities in the delivery of care.