patient portal use and seniors

Older adults and elderly patients are increasingly setting up and using patient portals, although seniors don't always like communicating their health information by computer, according to the National Poll on Health Aging.

Full Answer

Why do older adults use patient portals?

Oct 16, 2017 · The 2 main facilitators were receiving technical assistance with a patient portal or ePHR and receiving advice to use patient portals from family and providers. In terms of older adults’ experience using patient portals and ePHRs, some papers indicated that patient portals and ePHRs helped older adults to better manage their health information.

What is a patient portal?

Mar 20, 2020 · Patient portals are convenient tools to help patients manage their electronic medical records. A new study investigated how older adults fare in using this technology. For this study, 272 adults age 50 and better (average age 70) completed an online survey about their internet use, eHealth literacy, and experiences using patient portals.

Can patient portals and ephrs be integrated into older adults’ health management?

Nov 05, 2015 · Our finding that those older adults who use patient portals do so because the use of the portal facilitates efficient and easy access to health information, medical reports, and clinical appointments, is consistent with prior studies investigating older adult adoption of new technologies, such as automated teller cards and cell phones 18, 19.

How long do older adults use online portals?

Mar 23, 2020 · March 23, 2020 - Contrary to conventional wisdom, patients over the age of 85 do use the patient portal, sending a combined 1,254 patient portal messages to their providers across 62 individual patients, according to data from the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Why do patients not use patient portals?

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.May 14, 2019

What percentage of patients use patient portals?

FINDINGS. Nearly 40 percent of individuals nationwide accessed a patient portal in 2020 – this represents a 13 percentage point increase since 2014.Sep 21, 2021

Who uses patient portals?

Overwhelmingly, patients use the portal to view their lab results (85 percent). Sixty-two percent of patients are also using the tool for more clinical tasks, such as scheduling appointments, completing paperwork, and refilling prescriptions.Apr 16, 2018

What is the advantage of a patient portal for the patient?

The Benefits of a Patient Portal You can access all of your personal health information from all of your providers in one place. If you have a team of providers, or see specialists regularly, they can all post results and reminders in a portal. Providers can see what other treatments and advice you are getting.Aug 13, 2020

What are the benefits and challenges of using patient portals?

What are the Top Pros and Cons of Adopting Patient Portals?Pro: Better communication with chronically ill patients.Con: Healthcare data security concerns.Pro: More complete and accurate patient information.Con: Difficult patient buy-in.Pro: Increased patient ownership of their own care.Feb 17, 2016

Do patient portals improve healthcare?

Background. Engaging patients in the delivery of health care has the potential to improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Patient portals may enhance patient engagement by enabling patients to access their electronic medical records (EMRs) and facilitating secure patient-provider communication.

What are the disadvantages of patient portals?

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.Nov 11, 2021

When did the medical field start using patient portals?

1990sIn 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.Apr 7, 2016

Are patients using patient portals?

Despite the widespread availability of online patient portals, only 15 to 30 percent of patients use them, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. ... Among the 60% percent of patients offered portal access, 95% used it. When patients weren't offered portal access, only 41% used it.Apr 22, 2020

What is the purpose of a patient portal?

A patient portal is a secure online website that gives patients convenient, 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection. Using a secure username and password, patients can view health information such as: Recent doctor visits.Sep 29, 2017

What safeguards are included in patient portals?

Patient portals have privacy and security safeguards in place to protect your health information. To make sure that your private health information is safe from unauthorized access, patient portals are hosted on a secure connection and accessed via an encrypted, password-protected logon.

How do patient portals affect nursing?

Conclusions: While the evidence is currently immature, patient portals have demonstrated benefit by enabling the discovery of medical errors, improving adherence to medications, and providing patient-provider communication, etc. High-quality studies are needed to fully understand, improve, and evaluate their impact.Apr 11, 2019

Growing availability, incomplete use

For the past several years, the federal government has required hospitals, health systems and other health care providers to offer patient portal options to their patients if they want to earn extra funding from Medicare.

Concerns and divides

The poll’s results highlight the concerns that might be keeping older adults from setting up and logging in to the patient portals available to them.