Association between Patient Portal Usage and Perceived Patient-Centered Communication among Adults with Cancer: Cross-Sectional Survey Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryum Zaidi ◽  
Daniel J. Amante ◽  
Ekaterina Anderson ◽  
Mayuko Ito Fukunaga ◽  
Jamie Marie Faro ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Patient-centered communication (PCC) plays a vital role in effective cancer management and care. Patient portals are increasingly available to patients and hold potential as a valuable tool to facilitate PCC. However, whether the use of patient portals may improve perceived PCC or which mechanisms might mediate this relationship has not been studied. OBJECTIVE The primary goal of this study was to investigate the association between the frequency of access to patient portals and perceived PCC in patients with cancer. A secondary goal was to explore whether this association was mediated by patients' self-efficacy in health information seeking. METHODS We used data from the Health Information National Trend Survey 5 (HINTS 5) cycle 3 (2019) and cycle 4 (2020). The present analysis includes 1,222 individuals who self-reported having a current or past diagnosis of cancer. Perceived PCC was measured with a 7-item HINTS derived scale and classified as low, medium, or high. Patient portal usage was measured by a single item assessing the frequency of use. Self-efficacy about health information seeking was assessed with a one-item measure assessing confidence in obtaining health information. We used adjusted multinomial logistic regression models to estimate relative risk ratios (RRR) of the association between patients' patient portal usage and perceived PCC. Mediation by health information self-efficacy was investigated using the Baron and Kenny and Karlson, Holm, and Breen methods. RESULTS 54.5% of the sample reported that they did not access their patient portals in the past 12 months, 12.6 % accessed it 1-2 times, 24.8% accessed it 3-9 times, and 8.2% accessed it 10 or more times. Overall, the frequency of accessing the patient portal was marginally associated (P=0.06) with perceived PCC in an adjusted multinominal logistic regression model. Patients who accessed their patient portal 10 or more times in the previous 12 months were almost 4 times more likely (RRR=3.8; 95% CI 1.6–9.0) to report high perceived PCC. In mediation analysis, the association between patient portal use and perceived PCC was attenuated adjusting for health information seeking self-efficacy, but those with the most frequent patient portal use (ten or more times in the previous 12 months) were still almost 2.5 times more likely to report high perceived PCC (RRR=2.4; 95% CI 1.1–5.6) compared to those with no portal use. CONCLUSIONS PCC is an integral part of patient-centered care. Those who reported the greatest use of patient portals were more likely to report higher perceived PCC. These findings emphasize the importance of encouraging cancer patients and providers to use patient portals to increase patient-centeredness of care and suggest that interventions to promote the adoption and use of patient portals could incorporate strategies to improve health information self-efficacy.

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 451-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Walker

SUMMARYThe steady increase in online health information seeking by patients is ingrained in central notions of patient-centered care and shared decision-making models reflected in operative dentistry and the healthcare industry at large. More patients today seek health information prior to an appointment, communicate their findings with their providers, and expect two-way communication exchanges. This e-consumer trend has many implications for operative dentistry, for which surgery, by its very nature, lends to a confluence of questioning and informational needs. Operative dentists must acknowledge patient information and be prepared to address the breadth of information brought to them. The purpose of this literature review is threefold: 1) to provide the operative dentist with information about the demographics, psychology, and behavior of today's e-health patient; 2) to provide a review of the benefits and challenges of communicating with e-health patients; and 3) to provide recommendations for communicating with e-patients interpersonally and through Internet communication. In so doing, it is hoped that discussion can provide insight useful for improving provider/patient relationships in the progressive communication era.


Author(s):  
Ana Ongtengco ◽  
Kevin Roy ◽  
Liang Zhang ◽  
Jessie Chin

The purpose of the study was to identify and assess multiple aspects of patient portal usage behavior in an underserved urban patient population. Given the rise of patient-centered care, patients are required to take active roles to gather health information, make informed health decisions and manage their own healthcare, which behavior were associated with health outcome (Barry & Edgman-Levitan, 2012; Oates, Weston & Jordan, 2000). Patient portals serve as a mean to coordinate patient-centered care by delivering health information to patients (e.g. medical test results), exchanging information with healthcare providers (e.g., messaging providers), and facilitating the delivery of health care services (e.g., scheduling appointments). However, studies often showed that patients in underserved communities did not take full advantages of the patient portals (e.g,. Cazaja et al., 2015, Wallace et al., 2016). These disparities in patient portal usages were associated with many factors, including the complexities of the American healthcare system, lack of internet access, lack of support to navigate through the health systems, and the lack of health literacy among an underserved adult population. To better understand the current use of patient portal of an underserved patient population, we conducted an explorative analysis of portal usage at the University of Illinois Hospitals and Health Sciences System (UIHealth). UIHealth serves throughout the city of Chicago, including areas with high racial segregation (minority population higher than 75%), where patients’ household income is lower than the median of Chicago residents. The majority of patient populations in UIHealth are African Americans (61%) followed by Hispanic/Latino (17%) and White (17%). The study was conducted using a retrospective analysis of Google Analytics portal data from March 2015 to March 2019. User behavior data were extracted to show aspects of usage, including most popular portal functions, language used, time spent on each page, and returning user visits, etc. We used weekly summary data as individual data points (208 data points in total) in the analysis. We found that, over four years, both retuning and new users increased by more than 50%. Regarding the number of users per week, there were local drops in the overall growth which drops were associated with fewer visits to UIHealth during holidays or cold weather. Hence, portal visits were associated with clinic visits. With regards to the most popular functions, writing messages to healthcare providers and viewing medical test results were the most used functions over the years. Results suggested that patients would utilize portal to gather information about their health status (for later discussion with physicians or making informed decisions) and communicate with healthcare providers. Interestingly, we found the dominant devices used to access the portal have shifted from desktop computers (2015-2017) to mobile phones (2017-2019), suggesting the increasing need to present health information in bitable size in smaller screens; and the increasing smartphone adoptions of underserved adults as an alternative solution to get internet access. Overall, improving the accessibility of patient portals remains to be a major issue for empowering patients in contemporary value-based healthcare systems. The explorative study has shed lights on the longitudinal trends of portal usage among an underserved population, which creates practical implications on the design of a more efficient interface between patients and their healthcare providers with the ultimate goal to improve health equity.


Author(s):  
Anita Chasiotis ◽  
Oliver Wedderhoff ◽  
Tom Rosman ◽  
Anne-Kathrin Mayer

Abstract When dealing with a health threat, health information seeking (HIS) is a prominent way of engagement coping. Yet, there is only limited research as to its motivational and emotion regulatory antecedents. We present a theoretical model integrating approach and avoidance motivation, emotion regulation, HIS self-efficacy, and problem and emotion coping focus as predictors of HIS. We propose that, in the context of HIS, (1) approach and avoidance motivation have a direct effect on emotion regulation ability (positive and negative, respectively), (2) approach and avoidance motivation have indirect effects on intended comprehensiveness of search via emotion regulation, HIS self-efficacy and problem coping focus, (3) avoidance motivation has a direct effect on emotion coping focus. Our model was tested by means of structural equation modeling in a sample of university students (N = 283). Model fit was good, and all three hypotheses were supported. We show that emotion regulation ability is essential to explain the effects of approach and avoidance motivation on HIS as it fosters self-efficacy and a problem coping focus. The direct effect of avoidance motivation on emotion focus may represent an alternative way of coping with a health threat for those individuals who are highly sensitive to threat-related emotions.


Gerontology ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Sara Pourrazavi ◽  
Kamiar Kouzekanani ◽  
Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi ◽  
Shahrzad Bazargan-Hejazi ◽  
Mina Hashemiparast ◽  
...  

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The Internet is an important source for health information and a medium for older adults’ empowerment in health decision-making and self-caring. Therefore, we aimed to identify the potential motivators and probable barriers of e-health information-seeking behaviors (e-HISB) among older Iranian adults. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A cross-sectional study assessed the usefulness of self-efficacy, perceived encouragement, positive attitude toward e-HISB, perceived usefulness, challenges of being visited by physicians, and perceived barriers in predicting e-HISB in a sample of 320 older adults in Tabriz, Iran. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The self-efficacy for online information seeking, positive attitude toward e-HISB, and perceived usefulness increased the odds of e-HISB by 12.00%, 24.00%, and 15.00%, respectively. In addition, e-health literacy, conflicting information, distrust of online information, and web designs that were not senior-friendly were the major barriers to e-HISB. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> The theoretical and practical implications of the motivators and barriers of e-HISB can be instrumental in designing and executing programs aimed at improving e-health literacy among older adults especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.


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