Patient Portal Activation and Use in Hospitalized Children at an Academic Medical Center

Adolescent Use and Perspective of Hospital MyChart Bedside

BACKGROUND

Since the initiation and requirement of open access electronic health records (EHRs), research has shown benefits for adult patients and children's caregivers. Few studies have included the adolescent perspective.

METHODS

Hospitalized adolescents aged 14 to 20 years with an active Epic MyChart Bedside (inpatient portal device) account were recruited via convenience sampling. Participants were surveyed, assessing their understanding of the care plan, awareness and use of MyChart Bedside, and free-text responses. EHR information (age, sex, length of stay [LOS], race, ethnicity, insurance, chronic conditions) was paired with survey responses.

RESULTS

Thirty-two patients enrolled. No significant differences were noted in use based on sex, age, LOS, ethnicity, race, insurance type, or number of chronic conditions. Sixty-three percent were aware of access; of those, 55% used the tablet. Thirty-eight percent were unaware of access, and 83% indicated interest in using after learning about it. Free-text responses highlighted perceived advantages; 91% understood the care plan well. Overall offering of MyChart Bedside was low.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

This exploratory study begins to address a knowledge gap by assessing hospitalized adolescents' perspectives on open access bedside EHRs. Use was limited by access to and awareness of the tool and did not appear to be impacted by various factors. Despite sample size limitations, this study is an important step in understanding adolescents' engagement with open access EHRs. Future work should include larger sample sizes, assess factors contributing to use, and evaluate whether EHR access in adolescence enhances understanding of their health care.

Disparities in Patient Portal Activation and Use in a Pediatric Emergency Department

INTRODUCTION

Patient portals enhance patient engagement and health care outcomes, yet their use in pediatric emergency departments (EDs) remains understudied. This study evaluated patient portal activation and proxy use in a pediatric ED, examining associations with demographic and clinical factors.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of electronic health record patient portal use from a single urban pediatric ED from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. Patient portal use was categorized as active, nonactive, and nonuser. We assessed demographic and clinical characteristics associated with portal use and examined proxy use among adolescents.

RESULTS

Among 18,964 unique patients (27,454 visits), 58.1% were active portal users, 11.0% were nonactive, and 31.0% were nonusers. Multivariable analyses showed that active users were significantly more likely to be younger [odds ratio (OR): 2.9, 95% CI: 2.6-3.1] and covered by private insurance (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.5-1.7), and less likely to be non-Hispanic black (OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.74-0.86). Discharged patients had lower odds of active use (0.51, 95% CI: 0.46-0.56). Among adolescents, patient-only access increased with age, from 1.9% at age 12 to 82.0% at age 17.

CONCLUSIONS

While overall portal use was high, demographic disparities persist. These findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to enhance equitable portal adoption, ensuring all pediatric ED patients benefit from improved access to their medical records, consistent with the Cures Act Final Rule.

"Really Hard to Navigate": A Qualitative Study of Motivators, Barriers, and Supports of Adolescent-Clinician Communication on Patient Portals

PURPOSE

To understand how patient portals can support adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care needs and to identify factors impacting use of patient portals for adolescent-clinician communication.

METHODS

We conducted semi-structured interviews with adolescents, parents/guardians, and primary care providers (PCPs) by video or phone. Interview guides explored experiences with adolescent healthcare-seeking generally and SRH care specifically, as well as perspectives regarding adolescent portal use. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and deidentified. Interviewer summaries written after each interview noted key themes that informed analysis. The analysis team collaboratively coded transcripts. Codes were synthesized into analytic memos, which were refined to develop results.

RESULTS

We interviewed 31 people from 1 health system: 10 adolescents 14-17 years old and 10 parents/guardians of adolescents aged 14-17, and 11 primary care providers (PCPs). A motivator of portal use shared by all participants included convenience of use. Clinicians and parents/guardians also viewed portals as a tool to support adolescent independence and improve quality of care. Barriers shared by all participants included lack of adolescent portal uptake and dissatisfaction with functionality. Clinicians and adolescents raised concerns about confidentiality while parents and clinicians raised concerns about safety of care. Supports shared by all participants included encouragement and guidance from trusted adults, while adolescents and clinicians described the reinforcing nature of positive care experiences using the portal.

DISCUSSION

Through the perspectives of adolescents, parents/guardians, and clinicians, we elucidated key factors that may influence adolescent portal use for SRH care needs. We identified critical intervention targets for future research.

Examining Whether Patient Portal and Video Visit Use Differs by Race and Ethnicity Among Older Adults in a US Integrated Health Care Delivery System: Cross-Sectional Electronic Health Record and Survey-Based Study

BACKGROUND

Health care systems are increasingly encouraging patients to use patient portals and participate in video visits. However, there is limited information about how portal use differs among older adults.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to understand how patient portal and video visit use differed by age, race, and ethnicity among older adult patients with access to the same digital health resources.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study used electronic health record and survey data for adults aged 65 to 85 years who were members of a large Northern California health care delivery system throughout 2019 and 2020. The electronic health record cohort (N=471,152) included 320,686 White, 35,892 Black, 44,922 Latino, 20,786 Chinese, 28,732 Filipino, 8473 South Asian, 6716 Japanese, 2930 Vietnamese, and 2015 Korean adults. Racial and ethnic group and age group (65 to 75 years vs 76 to 85 years) differences in having a patient portal account by December 2020, the performance of 2 portal activities (sending ≥1 message to a clinician in 2019 or 2020 and viewing ≥1 laboratory test result in 2020), and having ≥1 video visit during 2020 were examined. Modified log-Poisson regression was used to examine prevalence ratios for portal and video visit use, comparing racial and ethnic groups to White adults and Asian ethnic groups to Chinese adults after adjusting for sex and age. Data from a 2020 member survey were used to compare internet use factors among 2867 White, 306 Black, 343 Latino, 225 Chinese, and 242 Filipino adults.

RESULTS

Black, Latino, and Filipino adults were less likely to have a patient portal account than White adults, and Filipino adults were less likely to have a patient portal account than Chinese adults. Black, Latino, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and South Asian adults were less likely to have sent messages and viewed test results than White adults, while Chinese and Japanese adults' use of these features was similar to that of White adults. Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean adults were less likely to have performed the aforementioned activities than Chinese adults. Video visit use was lower among Black and Latino adults and higher among Chinese and South Asian adults compared with White adults (aged 76 to 85 years) and lower among Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese adults compared to Chinese adults. Survey data suggested that underlying differences in internet use may partially explain the lower use of messaging by Black, Latino, and Filipino adults compared with White and Chinese adults.

CONCLUSIONS

Patient portal and video visit use differed by race, ethnicity, and age group among older adult patients with access to the same patient portal. Internet use factors may contribute to these differences. Differences in patient portal and video visit use across Asian subgroups underscore the importance of disaggregating use data by Asian ethnicity.

Improving Patient Portal Activation for Newborns in the Well Baby Nursery

BACKGROUND

Patient portals provide parents access to their child's health information and direct communication with providers. Our study aimed to improve portal activation rates of newborns during nursery hospitalization to >70% over 6 months. Secondarily, we describe the facilitators and barriers to portal use.

METHODS

The study design used a mixed-methodology framework of quality improvement (QI) and cross-sectional analyses. The Model for Improvement guided QI efforts. The primary outcome was the proportion of portals activated for newborns during nursery hospitalization. Interventions included portal activation algorithm, staff huddles, and documentation templates. Telephone interviews were conducted with a randomized sample of mothers of infants who activated the portal. These mothers were divided into portal "users" and "nonusers." We examined sociodemographic variables and health care utilization outcomes in the 2 groups.

RESULTS

Portal activation increased from 12.9% to 85.4% after interventions. Among 482 mothers with active portals, 127 (26.3%) were interviewed. Of those, 70% (89 of 127) reported using the portal, and 85.4% (76 of 89) found it useful. Reasons for accessing the portal included checking appointments and reviewing test results. Lack of knowledge of portal functionality was the main barrier to portal use (42.1%). Portal users were less likely to have a no-show to primary care appointments compared with nonusers (44.9% versus 78.9%, P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Portal activation rates increased after QI interventions in the nursery. Most parents accessed the portal and found it useful. Portals can improve health care delivery and patient engagement in the newborn period.

Proxy use of patient portals on behalf of children: Federally Qualified Health Centers as a case study

Objective

This study examined the proxy use of patient portals for children in a large Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) network in Texas.

Methods

We used de-identified individual-level data of patients, 0-18 years, who had 1+ visits between December 2018 and November 2020. Logistic regression was used to examine patient-, clinic-, and geographic-level factors associated with portal usage by an assumed proxy (i.e. parent or guardian).

Results

The proxy portal usage rate increased from 28% in the pre-pandemic months (November 2018-February 2020) to 34% in the pandemic months (March-Nov 2020). Compared to patients 0-5 years, patients aged 6 to 18 years had lower odds of portal usage (6-10 OR: 0.77, p < 0.001; 11-14 OR: 0.62, p < 0.001; 15-18 OR: 0.51, p < 0.001). Minoritized groups had significantly lower odds of portal usage when compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts (non-Hispanic Black OR: 0.78, p < 0.001; Hispanic OR 0.63, p < 0.001; Asian OR: 0.69, p < 0.001). Having one chronic condition was associated with portal usage (OR: 1.57, p < 0.001); however, there were no significant differences in portal usage between those with none or multiple chronic conditions. Portal usage also varied by service lines, with obstetrics and gynecology (OR: 1.84, p < 0.001) and behavioral health (OR 1.82, p < 0.001) having the highest odds of usage when compared to pediatrics. Having a telemedicine visit was the strongest predictor of portal usage (OR: 2.30, p < 0.001), while residence in zip codes with poor broadband internet access was associated with lower odds of portal usage (OR: 0.97, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

While others have reported portal usage rates as high as 64% in pediatric settings, our analysis suggests proxy portal usage rates of 30% in pediatric FQHC settings, with race/ethnicity, age group, and chronic disease status being significant drivers of portal non-usage. These findings highlight the need for appropriate and responsive health information technology approaches for vulnerable populations receiving care in low-resource settings.

The State-of-the-Art of Patient Portals: Adapting to External Factors, Addressing Barriers, and Innovating

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Recent external factors-the 21st Century Cures Act and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-have stimulated major changes in the patient portal landscape. The objective of this state-of-the-art review is to describe recent developments in the patient portal literature and to identify recommendations and future directions for the design, implementation, and evaluation of portals.

METHODS

To focus this review on salient contemporary issues, we elected to center it on four topics: (1) 21st Century Cures Act's impact on patient portals (e.g., Open Notes); (2) COVID-19's pandemic impact on portals; (3) proxy access to portals; and (4) disparities in portal adoption and use. We conducted targeted PubMed searches to identify recent empirical studies addressing these topics, used a two-part screening process to determine relevance, and conducted thematic analyses.

RESULTS

Our search identified 174 unique papers, 74 were relevant empirical studies and included in this review. Among these papers, we identified 10 themes within our four a priori topics, including preparing for and understanding the consequences of increased patient access to their electronic health information (Cures Act); developing, deploying, and evaluating new virtual care processes (COVID-19); understanding current barriers to formal proxy use (proxy access); and addressing disparities in portal adoption and use (disparities).

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that the recent trends toward understanding the implications of immediate access to most test results, exploring ways to close gaps in portal adoption and use among different sub-populations, and finding ways to leverage portals to improve health and health care are the next steps in the maturation of patient portals and are key areas that require more research. It is important that health care organizations share their innovative portal efforts, so that successful measures can be tested in other contexts, and progress can continue.

Impact of a switch to immediate release on the patient viewing of diagnostic test results in an online portal at an academic medical center

Patient portals allow patients to access their personal health information. The 21st Century Cures Act in the United States sought to eliminate 'information blocking', requiring timely release upon request of electronic health information including diagnostic test results. Some health systems, including the one in the present study, chose a systematic switch to immediate release of all or nearly all diagnostic test results to patient portals as part of compliance with the Cures Act. Our primary objective was to study changes in the time to view test results by patients before and after implementation of Cures Act-related changes. This retrospective pre-post study included data from two 10-month time periods before and after implementation of Cures Act-related changes at an academic medical center. The study included all patients (adult and pediatric) with diagnostic testing (laboratory and imaging) performed in the outpatient, inpatient, or emergency department settings. Between February 9, 2020 and December 9, 2021, there was a total of 3 809 397 diagnostic tests from 204 605 unique patients (3 320 423 tests for adult patients; 488 974 for pediatric patients). Overall, 56.5% (115 627) of patients were female, 84.1% (172 048) white, and 96.5% (197 517) preferred English as primary language. The odds of viewing test results within 1 and 30 days after portal release increased monthly throughout both time periods before and after the Cures Act for all patients. The rate of increase was significantly higher after implementation only in the subgroup of tests belonging to adult patients with active MyChart accounts. Immediate release shifted a higher proportion of result/report release to weekends (3.2% pre-Cures vs 15.3% post-Cures), although patient viewing patterns by day of week and time of day were similar before and after immediate release changes. The switch to immediate release of diagnostic test results to the patient portal resulted in a higher fraction of results viewed within 1 day across outpatient, inpatient, and emergency department settings.

Views, Use, and Experiences of Web-Based Access to Pediatric Electronic Health Records for Children, Adolescents, and Parents: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Ongoing efforts worldwide to provide patients with patient-accessible electronic health records (PAEHRs) have led to variability in adolescent and parental access across providers, regions, and countries. There is no compilation of evidence to guide policy decisions in matters such as access age and the extent of parent proxy access. In this paper, we outline our scoping review of different stakeholders' (including but not limited to end users) views, use, and experiences pertaining to web-based access to electronic health records (EHRs) by children, adolescents, and parents.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to identify, categorize, and summarize knowledge about different stakeholders' (eg, children and adolescents, parents, health care professionals [HCPs], policy makers, and designers of patient portals or PAEHRs) views, use, and experiences of EHR access for children, adolescents, and parents.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted according to the Arksey and O'Malley framework. A literature search identified eligible papers that focused on EHR access for children, adolescents, and parents that were published between 2007 and 2021. A number of databases were used to search for literature (PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO).

RESULTS

The approach resulted in 4817 identified articles and 74 (1.54%) included articles. The papers were predominantly viewpoints based in the United States, and the number of studies on parents was larger than that on adolescents and HCPs combined. First, adolescents and parents without access anticipated low literacy and confidentiality issues; however, adolescents and parents who had accessed their records did not report such concerns. Second, the main issue for HCPs was maintaining adolescent confidentiality. This remained an issue after using PAEHRs for parents, HCPs, and other stakeholders but was not an experienced issue for adolescents. Third, the viewpoints of other stakeholders provided a number of suggestions to mitigate issues. Finally, education is needed for adolescents, parents, and HCPs.

CONCLUSIONS

There is limited research on pediatric PAEHRs, particularly outside the United States, and on adolescents' experiences with web-based access to their records. These findings could inform the design and implementation of future regulations regarding access to PAEHRs. Further examination is warranted on the experiences of adolescents, parents, and HCPs to improve usability and utility, inform universal principles reducing the current arbitrariness in the child's age for own and parental access to EHRs among providers worldwide, and ensure that portals are equipped to safely and appropriately manage a wide variety of patient circumstances.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.2196/36158.

The Influence of the Electronic Health Record on Achieving Equity and Eliminating Health Disparities for Children

The electronic health record (EHR) has been heralded as a transformative approach to modernizing health care and advancing health equity. Access to the EHR can facilitate shared clinical decision-making and improved communication with patients, families, and among health care providers. Recent legislative and regulatory efforts have been passed to increase the transparency as well as the initiatives to increase the meaningful use of the EHR. Yet despite these well-intended efforts, challenges to addressing health equity through the EHR persist. This article reviews three distinct challenges to addressing health equity related to the EHR. We discuss (1) both the implicit and explicit bias that exist in EHR documentation, (2) the gaps that remain between screening for social determinants of health and the effective inclusion and billing of that screening into the EHR, and (3) the disparities that exist with the use of patient portals. Addressing these three areas will enhance the opportunities to advance health equity through the use of the EHR and bring us one step closer to eliminating health disparities in pediatric health care. [Pediatr Ann. 2022;51(3):e112-e117.].