Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Oct 24, 2022
Date Accepted: Sep 19, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Direct release of laboratory and imaging test results to patients via online patient portals: A scoping review on perspectives of various stakeholders.
ABSTRACT
Background:
One of the most frequently used features of electronic patient portals accessed by patients is viewing their laboratory and imaging test results. Research on the use and effects of patient portals is abundant and offers overall evidence and roadmaps to help portal implementers make relevant policy and practice decisions. In contrast, no comparable comprehensive summary of research exists specifically addressing the most-used feature of patient portals—release of and access to test results.
Objective:
The purpose of this scoping review was to analyze and synthesize published research focused on patient-, health care provider- and health organization- perspectives on direct release of laboratory, imaging, and radiology results to patients via online portals.
Methods:
For this scoping review, rigorous literature searches in online library databases and screening guided by inclusion/exclusion criteria occurred in three stages, capturing the period up to December 2021. In total, we analyzed 21 unique articles, 5 of which examined perspectives of both patients and health care providers/health systems.
Results:
The two groups of articles—focused on perspectives of patients (n=18) and health care providers (n=8), respectively—were thematically analyzed with attention to contextual factors, and results were reported separately for each group. The timing of releasing test results emerged as a particularly contentious topic for various stakeholders. This suggests that policy makers and health administrators should carefully approach decisions about the embargo period for releasing results.
Conclusions:
This review produced a comprehensive summary sensitive to characteristics of patient populations and portal technology, which is a step toward building evidence to inform result release framework policies and to help health care professionals appreciate the benefits and challenges that patients report when viewing their test results online. The findings are timely as patient portals become more common internationally.
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