JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the advent of electronic health record (EHR) systems, an increasing attention is being paid to the EHR system in terms of its utility in facilitating patients to play active roles in their care via portal. Yet, there is no systematic review to specifically address patient portal interventions and patient outcomes.

Objective:

To synthesize evidence concerning the characteristics and patient outcomes of patient portal interventions.

Methods:

Three electronic database searches, including PubMed, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) were undertaken in November 2018. Twenty-four articles met eligibility criteria.

Results:

All but three studies were conducted in the U.S. The types of study designs varied and samples predominantly involved non-Hispanic white, highly educated, and highly literate patients with sizes ranging from 50 to 22,703. The majority of portal interventions used tailored alerts or educational resources tailored to the patient’s condition. Patient portal interventions lead to improvements in a wide range of psycho-behavioral outcomes such as health knowledge, self-efficacy, decision making, medication adherence, and preventive service use. Effects of patient portal interventions on clinical outcomes including blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, and weight loss were mixed.

Conclusions:

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 portal to improve clinical outcomes. Understanding the role of patient portal as an effective intervention strategy is an essential step to encourage patients to be actively engaged in their health care. Clinical Trial: N/A