17 hours ago · In fact, a Kaiser study in Hawaii had seemingly confirmed the belief that patient access to an online portal decreased the amount of office visits, in that case by 26.2 percent. Starting with an examination of the records of more than 500,000 Kaiser Permanente patients in the state of Colorado, Palen and his team whittled the research down to 44,000 My Health … >> Go To The Portal
Kaiser Permanente has offered its members an online patient portal (kp.org) for more than a decade, allowing them to conveniently access health care information, communicate with clinicians, refill prescriptions, schedule appointments, and more.
★ About one in five patient portal users (22%) accessed their health information using both a smartphone health app and a computer in 2020. ★ Patient portal users most commonly accessed their health information through a computer (83%) – six in 10 portal users accessed their health information using only this method.
Individuals who access their portal at least once in the past year are referred to as “patient portal users”. Patient portal users who access their health information using multiple methods access their portal more frequently than those who use only one method.
About 6 in 10 individuals nationwide were offered access to their patient portal by a health care provider or insurer, and nearly 4 in 10 individuals (38 percent) reported that they accessed their portal at least once in 2020.
Nearly 40 percent of individuals nationwide accessed a patient portal in 2020 – this represents a 13 percentage point increase since 2014.
Patient portal interventions were overall effective in improving a few psychological outcomes, medication adherence, and preventive service use. There was insufficient evidence to support the use of patient portals to improve clinical outcomes.
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Even though they should improve communication, there are also disadvantages to patient portals....Table of ContentsGetting Patients to Opt-In.Security Concerns.User Confusion.Alienation and Health Disparities.Extra Work for the Provider.Conclusion.
The researchers found no demographic differences among nonusers who said that a technology hurdle, lack of internet access or no online medical record was the reason why they did not make use of a patient portal.
Eight studies reported that patients or their caregivers want more portal education, training, or support. Two studies found that their participants want human connection as they learn about the portal and how to use it, as well as when they encounter issues.
Although some clinicians use the terms EHR and EMR interchangeably, the benefits they offer vary greatly. An EMR (electronic medical record) is a digital version of a chart with patient information stored in a computer and an EHR (electronic health record) is a digital record of health information.
Early Implementation And Growth Of Patient Portals In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the earliest adopters of patient portals began offering electronic tools for patient-centered communication, often “tethered” to their integrated electronic health record system.
There are two main types of patient portals: a standalone system and an integrated service. Integrated patient portal software functionality usually comes as a part of an EMR system, an EHR system or practice management software. But at their most basic, they're simply web-based tools.
Among nonadopters (n=2828), the most prevalent barrier to patient portal adoption was patient preference for in-person communication (1810/2828, 64.00%) (Table 2). The second most common barrier was no perceived need for the patient portal (1385/2828, 48.97%).
Unfortunately, what makes your patient portal valuable for patients is exactly what makes it attractive to cybercriminals. It's a one-stop shop for entire health records, and identity thieves can make a fast buck from stealing this data and selling it on.
Portals provide physicians with a fast and easy way to communicate with chronically ill patients. They are a place to get complete and more accurate patient information. Portals empower patients to take ownership of their own healthcare, so they remain aware of the entire care process.
Portals are not free of problems. Only about 30% of Medicare beneficiaries use them despite nearly 90% of their physicians providing them. As with many healthcare disparities, age, income, and in this instance broadband access, limit portal use.
Portals acted as buffers between a patient’s desire for 24-hour access and physicians’ desires for a work-life balance. And while ED visits and hospitalizations are one measure of wellness, it is not clear whether portals improve patient health; to the extent that the foster improved communication, they provide a benefit. ...
Individuals’ rates of being offered and subsequently accessing their patient portal increased significantly between 2018 and 2019, but did not change in 2020.
Data are from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS).
Johnson C, Richwine C, & Patel V. (September 2021). Individuals’ Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2020. ONC Data Brief, no.57. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology: Washington DC.
When used effectively, patient portals can empower consumers by enabling active management of their own care. However, we know little about how patient portal use fits into the broader personal health information management (PHIM) practices of various groups, such as older adults.
Portal users ranged in age from 61 to 93 years , and most lived independently in a private residence (60%) and had college education or higher (67%). Although portal nonusers were similar in age, fewer were college educated (53%) and more lived in retirement or assisted living facilities (74%).
Important to the success of the consumer health movement is accurate, accessible, and understandable health information to assist with treatment and health decisions . Older adults are the largest consumers of health care and expend the greatest proportion of US health care dollars.
Patient portals are digital health tools that provide patients with convenient, secure access to personal health information (such as laboratory results and medication lists), resources, and services such as appointment scheduling and secure messaging with providers. Patient portals have the potential to improve patient engagement with health and health care, decrease costs, and increase health care quality by facilitating health care system transactions (e.g., prescription refills), supporting patient-provider communication, and expediting access to medical records and relevant educational materials. Research indicates that patient portal use can increase patients’ understanding of their health conditions, improve patient safety, reduce caregiver burden, increase medication adherence, and improve the quality of both preventive and follow-up care. There is also some evidence to suggest that patient portal use can improve clinical outcomes.As a result of substantial investments in telehealth infrastructure and legislation mandating meaningful use of electronic health records, by 2015 most health care organizations in the United States offered patient portals. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased reliance on technologies like patient portals to facilitate virtual visits, remote monitoring, and electronic communication with providers. However, by making these technologies more central to care, the pandemic has also highlighted the inequalities that exist in their use.
A patient portal is a digital tool that enables patients to securely access their medical records and interact with the health care system through the internet.