survey on patients not using a patient portal

by Linnie Kreiger 7 min read

Reasons and Barriers for Using a Patient Portal: Survey …

26 hours ago  · Of the 758 nonusers, 162 (21.4%) patients stated that they would consider using the Web portal if someone would help them, 262 (34.6%) did not know if they would use the portal if someone would help, and 293 (38.7%) would not consider using the portal even if someone … >> Go To The Portal


How many patients are offered access to a patient portal?

Nearly all portal users—95%—recalled being offered access, though 41% offered access did not use it. Only 5% of patients who said they were not offered access went on to use a portal, though some providers might not have had portal access to offer.

What is the difference between individual and patient portal users?

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.

What is the difference between denominator and patient portal users?

Notes: Denominator represents individuals who accessed their patient portal at least once within the past year. Individuals who access their portal at least once in the past year are referred to as “patient portal users”.

How many people don’t use a health information portal?

We analyzed information about 2,325 insured respondents to the nationally representative 2017 Health Information National Trends Survey to examine characteristics of portal nonusers and reasons for nonuse. Sixty-three percent reported not using a portal during the prior year.

Why do people not use patient portals?

Disadvantages of patient portals result in these lower rates of use. For some people, they avoid using the portals altogether for reasons like security issues, low health literacy, or lack of internet. Even for those who do access their accounts, there are still other disadvantages of patient portals.

What percentage of patients use patient portals?

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

What are the disadvantages of patient portals?

The most frequently reported downside to patient portals is the difficulty providers often face in generating patient buy-in. Although providers are generally aware of the health perks of using a patient portal, patients are seldom as excited about the portal as they are.

Do patients like patient portals?

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.

Are patient portals effective?

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.

How safe are 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.

Can you think of any potential disadvantages of patients using the patient portal system within the EHR?

One con to keep in mind with patient portals is that some patients may not have much experience with computers, preventing them from getting the most out of it. Another drawback is the potential for data breaches, so you'll need to work with a vendor that provides robust, secure EHR software.

What is the most common barrier to the use of the patient portal?

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%).

What are the pros and cons of personal health records?

4 Pros and Cons of Digital Patient Health Data AccessPro: Patients enjoy digital data access.Con: Complicated health info causes concern for patients, docs.Pro: Patients can review info for medical errors.Con: Clinician notes raise patient-provider relationship concerns.

What is the future of patient portals?

April 19, 2022 - It's time for healthcare professionals to begin reconsidering patient portals as not only tools for patient data access, but also as tools for building the patient-provider relationship.

How do you improve patient portals?

5 steps to maximize your patient portal and boost practice...Meet patient priorities. ... Integrate the portal into practice workflow. ... Identify patients who will most benefit from portal use. ... Promote the portal. ... Evaluate portal use and modify practice operations.

When did the medical field start using patient portals?

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.

Summary

Individuals’ rates of being offered and subsequently accessing their patient portal increased significantly between 2018 and 2019, but did not change in 2020.

Data Source and Methods

Data are from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS).

Suggested Citation

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.

What is a patient portal?

Background: Patient access to their medical records through patient portals (PPs) facilitates information exchange and provision of quality health care. Understanding factors that characterize patients with limited access to and use of PPs is needed.

What are the factors that affect access to PPs?

Gender, education, marital status, and having a regular clinician were factors associated with access, facilitators of use, and use of PPs ( Table 2 ). Age, language proficiency, and having health insurance were also associated with PPs access and use but not race and ethnicity.

Getting Patients to Opt-In

It’s a disadvantage of both the provider and patient when clients decide not to use a patient portal. Patients are missing out on the potential benefits available to them. Providers also need to spend more time going over information with the patient that they could just access on the portal.

Security Concerns

The AMA also says that security concerns are the reason why 22% of people aren’t taking advantage of these services. These concerns were more common in patients over 40 years old.

User Confusion and Anxiety

There’s always the risk of confusion when using a new online platform. Trying to learn all the functionalities can take some time. This is why some accounts offer new user tours to guide the person through all of the features.

Alienation and Health Disparities

Other disadvantages of patient portals include alienation and health disparities. Alienation between patient and provider occurs for those who don’t access these tools. Sometimes, this is due to health disparities if a person doesn’t have a method for using them.

Extra Work for the Provider

With each of the disadvantages of patient portals that I already mentioned comes unintended extra work for the provider. Doctors want their clients to use this service they offer but opt-in rates are still low among patients.

Conclusion

Patient portals are set up to be a benefit for clients. When people opt-in to using these services, they can use quick on-demand features to make their health experience better. For instance, it’s easier to obtain medical records, immunizations, prescription information, and other details.

Study Data and Methods

Study Results

  • We found that in 2017, 63 percent of insured adults with a health care visit in the previous twelve months reported not using an online patient portal (exhibit 1). Bivariate analyses show that compared to users, nonusers were more likely not to have been offered access to a portal and to be male and age sixty-five or older, have less than a college...
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Discussion

  • Despite significant investments in telehealth to engage patients in their care, about two-thirds of insured US adult patients were not using an online patient portal in 2017. Nonusers were more likely to be male, have less than a college degree, be on Medicaid, and lack a regular provider. These factors, along with race, were also related to whether a patient reported receiving an offe…
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Policy Implications

  • Our findings have several policy implications. First, socioeconomic and other disparities exist in the use of online patient portals—an important new technology with real potential to improve health and health care. Patients with the lowest education levels, those insured by Medicaid, and those without a regular provider are less likely to report that they were offered access to an onlin…
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Conclusion

  • Using the latest national data, we found that almost two-thirds of insured adults who had had a previous health care visit did not use an online portal in 2017. Those who had only a high school education, did not have a regular provider, and had Medicaid insurance were much less likely to use a portal. Because online patient engagement yields important benefits, it is vital to continue …
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Acknowledgments

  • Denise Anthony was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. TWC SBE CNS-1408730). The authors thank the editors and reviewers at Health Affairsfor helpful advice on the manuscript.
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Notes

  1. 1 Blumenthal D, Tavenner M. The “meaningful use” regulation for electronic health records. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(6):501–4. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar
  2. 2 National Learning Consortium. How to optimize patient portals for patient engagement and meet meaningful use requirements [Internet]. Washington (DC): HealthIT.gov; 2013 May [cited 2018 Oct 26]....
  1. 1 Blumenthal D, Tavenner M. The “meaningful use” regulation for electronic health records. N Engl J Med. 2010;363(6):501–4. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar
  2. 2 National Learning Consortium. How to optimize patient portals for patient engagement and meet meaningful use requirements [Internet]. Washington (DC): HealthIT.gov; 2013 May [cited 2018 Oct 26]....
  3. 3 Steinbrook R. Health care and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(11):1057–60. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar
  4. 4 Delbanco T, Walker J, Bell SK, Darer JD, Elmore JG, Farag Net al. Inviting patients to read their doctors’ notes: a quasi-experimental study and a look ahead. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(7):461–70....