Developing patient portals in a fragmented healthcare system

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Health Services Research
• Information Systems

Background:

• Patient portals are increasingly developed in the Netherlands through inter-organizational collaboration due to the fragmented healthcare system.
• These collaborations aim to provide patients with integrated access to information and services from multiple providers.
• Policy initiatives and practical efforts highlight the growing attention to patient portal development.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify and describe the types of collaborative networks involved in Dutch patient portal development.
• Analyze the characteristics of these networks and their impact on portal initiatives.
• Assess enabling and constraining effects of different network types on patient portal development.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research employing interviews with 18 experts and 12 network representatives.
• Analysis of national policy documents and network-specific documentation.
• Content analysis of data from three representative inter-organizational patient portal networks.

Main Results:

• Studied networks varied in actor number, diversity, interdependence, governance decentralization, and network dynamics.
• Networks with higher complexity faced greater challenges in interoperability, implementation, regulatory compliance, and financial sustainability.
• Complex networks potentially yield patient portals with higher functionality, consolidating information from diverse providers.

Conclusions:

• Effective patient portal development requires balancing desired functionality with the ease of development.
• Early evidence suggests a trade-off between the scope of a patient portal and the challenges encountered during its creation.