Patient Perceptions of Receiving COVID-19 Test Results via an Online Patient Portal: An Open Results Survey

Abstract

Background In the United States, attention has been focused on “open notes” and “open results” since the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology implemented the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule on information blocking. Open notes is an established best practice, but open results remains controversial, especially for diseases associated with stigma, morbidity, and mortality. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with all three of these effects and represents an ideal disease for the study of open results for sensitive test results. Objectives This study evaluates patient perspectives related to receiving COVID-19 test results via an online patient portal prior to discussion with a clinician. Methods We surveyed adults who underwent COVID-19 testing between March 1, 2020 and October 21, 2020 who agreed to be directly contacted about COVID-19-related research about their perspectives on receiving test results via a patient portal. We evaluated user roles (i.e., patient vs. care partner), demographic information, ease of use, impact of immediate release, notification of results, impact of viewing results on health management, and importance of sharing results with others. Results Users were mostly patients themselves. Users found the portal easy to use but expressed mixed preferences about the means of notification of result availability (e.g., email, text, or phone call). Users found immediate access to results useful for managing their health, employment, and family/childcare. Many users shared their results and encouraged others to get tested. Our cohort consisted mostly of non-Hispanic white, highly educated, English-speaking patients. Conclusion Overall, patients found open results useful for COVID-19 testing and few expressed increased worries from receiving their results via the patient portal. The demographics of our cohort highlight the need for further research in patient portal equity in the age of open results.

Characteristics of Adult Primary Care Patients Who Use the Patient Portal: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

“…At large health systems, such virtual services were often made available through patient portals. 7 Portals can serve as important tools for informing clinical decisions 8 and encouraging preventive health behaviors. 9 The portal may improve patient care by allowing patients to provide health care providers with up-todate information.…”

How to Use Data to Increase Bike Use by Travelers

“…The COVID-19 epidemic clearly illustrated the importance of the eHealth system for the Slovenian healthcare sector, since it can be asserted without doubt that without the eHealth system individual segments of the healthcare service in Slovenia would have collapsed , and a major portion of the system would be seriously crippled and limited in its operations. The greatest harm in such a situation would be suffered by patients (Turer et al, 2021;Guitton, 2021).…”

How to Improve Waste Managing on the Islands - Case Study of the Island of Lošinj

“…Brez uporabe rešitev eZdravja bi posamezni segmenti zdravstvenega sistema dobesedno razpadli (Lee in Lee, 2021), večji del zdravstvenega sistema pa bi bil zelo resno ohromljen in omejen pri svojem delu. Največjo škodo v takšni situaciji bi občutili pacienti (Turer et al, 2021;Guitton, 2021).…”