Testing a Model of Patient Portal Use in Adult Patients

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Patient portals are increasingly integrated into healthcare delivery.
• Understanding factors influencing patient adoption and use is crucial for effective implementation.
• Existing models may not fully capture the nuances of patient portal engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test a modified Technology Acceptance Model for adult patient portal use.
• To examine the direct and indirect relationships between various factors and patient portal utilization.
• To identify key drivers and barriers to patient portal adoption.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional anonymous online survey was administered to adult patients who had used patient portals within the past 12 months.
• Participants were recruited from 20 diverse healthcare settings.
• Structural equation modeling was employed to test the modified theoretical model with data from 743 patients.

Main Results:

• Patient portal self-efficacy and data privacy/security concerns directly impacted patient portal use.
• Perceived usefulness, ease of use, eHealth literacy, education level, and age indirectly influenced patient portal use.
• The modified model demonstrated a good fit with the collected data.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a refined theoretical framework for understanding adult patient portal use in real-world healthcare settings.
• Findings highlight the importance of both direct (self-efficacy, privacy) and indirect (perceived attributes, literacy, demographics) factors.
• Recommendations are provided for improving patient portal user-friendliness and implementation strategies.