use of an electronic patient portal among disadvantaged populations.

We found good early rates of adoption and use of an electronic patient portal during the first 2 years of its deployment among a predominantly low-income population, especially among patients with chronic diseases. Disparities in access to and usage of the portal were evident but were smaller than those reported recently in other populations.

Full Answer

How well do electronic patient portals work in low-income populations?

Jun 07, 2011 · A safety net provider achieved good early rates of adoption and usage for an electronic patient portal among a predominantly low-income patient population. Racial and economic disparities were evident at all stages of access to the portal, activation of portal accounts, and usage of accounts, but these disparities were smaller than those previously …

Do electronic patient portals promote patient engagement with healthcare?

Conclusions: We found good early rates of adoption and use of an electronic patient portal during the first 2 years of its deployment among a predominantly low-income population, especially among patients with chronic diseases. Disparities in access to and usage of the portal were evident but were smaller than those reported recently in other populations.

Why are older patients less likely to activate a portal account?

What percentage of primary care patients activate their electronic patient portal?

What are the benefits disadvantages and problems that can occur from using a patient portal?

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

What are the benefits and challenges of using patient portals?

What are the benefits of patient portals?Patient portals are efficient. ... Patient portals improve communication. ... They store health information in one place. ... Patient portals satisfy meaningful use standards. ... They improve data accuracy. ... Patient portals make refilling prescriptions easy. ... They're available whenever you need them.More items...•Jul 15, 2019

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 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

Why do some patients fail to participate in the use of the patient portal?

The reason why most patients do not want to use their patient portal is because they see no value in it, they are just not interested. The portals do not properly incentivize the patient either intellectually (providing enough data to prove useful) or financially.

What are the disadvantages of accessing your health care online?

Using an online symptom checker or relying on health websites to find out the root of your problem can lead to inaccurate self-diagnosis, which can result in increased anxiety, stress and fear. Heightened anxiety can exacerbate your symptoms and lead to other symptoms, which can leave you feeling worse.Jun 24, 2019

What is telemedicine used for?

Telemedicine technology is frequently used for follow-up visits, management of chronic conditions, medication management, specialist consultation and a host of other clinical services that can be provided remotely via secure video and audio connections.

Do patient portals improve outcomes?

Patient portal interventions lead to improvements in a wide range of psychobehavioral outcomes, such as health knowledge, self-efficacy, decision making, medication adherence, and preventive service use.

What are some advantages to a healthcare facility's use of the patient portal function quizlet?

The patient portal supports two-way communication, which allows the patient to work with physicians between patient visits, request appointments, and receive reminders. These reminders can be for appointments, need for follow-up, and more.

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

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.May 23, 2017

What are the disadvantages of patience?

You ignore the innovative wisdom that comes from going with your instincts and initial perspectives. You may too easily make allowances for team members' correctable challenges, compromising overall team performance.Aug 3, 2010

What are the downsides in restricting access to Ehrs?

Barriers Restricting Access to EHR Data in Support of Patient Safety and Privacy Laws Can Lead to Diagnostic Errors, Some Involving Clinical Laboratory Tests.Nov 7, 2016

What is an electronic patient portal?

Electronic patient portals give patients access to information from their electronic health record and the ability to message their providers. These tools are becoming more widely used and are expected to promote patient engagement with health care.

What are the variables associated with access codes?

In bivariate analyses, the following variables were statistically significantly associated with likelihood of getting an access code: sex, age, race, language, insurance type, clinic location, number of encounters, number of diagnoses, and the following individual diagnoses: alcoholism, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, asthma, depression, and hyperlipidemia. Multivariate models (Table 3, column 1) showed that access codes were significantly more likely to be issued to women, younger patients, whites, speakers of English and languages other than English or Spanish, and those with insurance, more clinical visits, and more chronic illnesses. Patients in the urban sites were more likely to receive access codes than patients in the Hudson Valley; however, Hudson Valley sites implemented the portal 6 months after New York City sites. Stratified analyses (not shown) demonstrated that all site-specific trends were similar to the overall trends except with respect to age. In Manhattan, odds of receiving a code was not associated with age, whereas in the Bronx, older patients were less likely to receive a code and in the Hudson Valley, older patients were more likely to receive a code.

What is IFH in health care?

We conducted our study using data from the Institute for Family Health (IFH), a network of federally qualified health centers that provides primary care to a predominantly low-income population in New York City and the Hudson Valley north of the city, serving a highly racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse population. IFH uses the EpicCare EHR and in 2008 deployed Epic's English-language MyChart patient portal. The portal went live in April 2008; New York City patients began to be enrolled immediately, and Hudson Valley patients 6 months later. In February 2009, IFH launched voluntary provider training and a poster campaign within all its health centers, but there was no policy requiring systematic enrollment for all patients. An access code for the portal could be generated by the provider upon request of either the provider or the patient; after receiving an access code, the patient had to visit the portal website to activate the account, and then could use the portal freely.

Abstract

Background: Underserved patient populations experience barriers to accessing and engaging within the complex health care system. Electronic patient portals have been proposed as a potential new way to improve access and engagement.

Methods

We created an EHR data set that linked data from all OCHIN PBRN practices. OCHIN was originally created as the Oregon Community Health Information Network and renamed OCHIN as other states joined. 15, 16 All OCHIN member clinics, organized and managed within unique service areas, share a centrally hosted, linked instance of the EpicCare EHR.

Results

A total of 36,549 patients from OCHIN PBRN clinics in 13 states (Alaska, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin) comprised the final sample.

Discussion

In this study of underserved patients located in 13 states across the United States during an initial patient portal rollout period when participating clinic systems could use various portal recruitment strategies, we found that a majority of patients receiving an access code from their health care provider never attempted to log in to the MyChart platform.