Patient and caregiver use of patient portal features in primary care: a cross-sectional survey study of Ontarians
Alexis Aomreore, Simone Dahrouge, Kiran Saluja, Simon Lam, Rachelle AshcroftAbstract
Background:
Patient portals (PPs) are digital healthcare programs providing patients with access to their electronic health records with features aiding patients in managing their care. Although PPs are now widely used in primary care (PC), the desirability of its features is less known.
Aim:
This study aims to describe the current and anticipated use of PP features and the socio-demographic profile of PP users accessing these features.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey of patient and caregiver experiences with virtual care in PC in Ontario, Canada, was conducted from December 2022 to March 2023. A survey section captured use/anticipated use of PP features: ‘communicating with practice’, ‘viewing records’, ‘entering record information’, ‘receiving practice information’, and ‘scheduling appointments’. We report on respondents with/without PP access and their use/anticipated use of PP features, and analyzed associations between respondent socio-demographic data and the current use of a number of PP features using Pearson chi-square test.
Findings:
A total of 970 responses (743 patients (P) and 227 caregivers (C)) were obtained with respondents having PP access (P:57%; C:62%) and indicating using all (P: 43%; C:45%), some (P:55%; C:52%), or no (P: 2%; C:4%) PP features. For those with PP access, age (65+ years (14%) compared to <65 years (1%)), employment status (unemployed (6%) compared to employed (1%)), and language at home (non-English (9%) compared to English (1%)) were significantly associated with not using any PP features (percentages represent those not using any PP feature). Our findings provide insights into equity aspects to be considered for future PP implementation.