Unlocking Patient Portals: Health Information Professionals Navigating Challenges and Shaping the Future

Due to recent regulations and the COVID-19 pandemic, patient portals have increased in use and importance as a tool for both patients and providers. While patient portals have many benefits, the recent increase in use has resulted in additional complexities in managing these portals. Health information (HI) professionals are ideally suited to manage these tools. While past efforts may have focused on increasing portal use, current efforts must include ensuring patient access, data quality, portal policies and procedures, and more. This study was designed to explore the experiences and perspectives of a group of HI directors and patient portal managers who are deeply involved in portal use and management. The findings of this study are used to assess the patient portal management role that HI professionals currently play and could play in the future, develop guidelines for best practices, and determine educational needs for both higher and professional education.