Dive Brief:
- A study of 2,803 patients at four university-affiliated nephrology offices in western Pennsylvania examined access of an EHR portal to manage chronic kidney disease. Patients learned about the portal through pamphlets at the clinics but were not trained on how to sign up or use it.
- Overall, 1,098 participants (39%) accessed the portal. More than 87% reviewed lab results, 85% reviewed their medical information and reviewed or changed appointments, 77% reviewed medication, 65% requested medication refills, and 31% requested medical advice from a renal provider.
- Those using the portal were more likely to have private insurance, be married, white and younger. Those who didn't access the portal were more likely to be black, enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid, lower-income, older and unmarried, the report stated.
Dive Insight:
The study pointed to several potential barriers to portal access. These include patients' comfort levels in using a portal to communicate with a provider, security concerns regarding the Internet and their health information, and confidence in accessing health information online.
Lead study author, Dr. Khaled Abdel-Kader, an assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, said despite the wide availability of smartphones and technology to access the Internet, "the adoption of e-health technologies does not appear to be equitable." In addition, he told NPR, "As we feel we are advancing, we may actually perversely be reinforcing disparities that we had been making progress on."
The study concluded more attention is required to understand why certain populations aren't accessing patient portals. "Future research should examine barriers to the use of e-health technologies in underserved patients with [chronic kidney disease], interventions to address them, and their potential to improve outcomes," the authors concluded.