Patients’ Experiences of a National Patient Portal and Its Usability: Cross-Sectional Survey Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Patient portals provide patients not only with access to electronic health records (EHRs), but also other functionalities, such as prescription renewals. Patient portals can improve patients’ self-management, engagement with health care professionals (HCPs), and care processes. These benefits, however, depend on patients’ willingness to use patient portals and, ultimately, their experiences with the usefulness and ease of use of the portals. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate patients’ positive and negative experiences with the Finnish national patient portal My Kanta and the relation of their experiences with perceived usability. METHODS Data were collected through a web-based survey of the My Kanta patient portal’s logged-in patient users in Finland from January to February 2022. The web-based survey included questions about background information and perceived usability, which was used to calculate approximations of the System Usability Scale (SUS). Open-ended questions asked the patients about their positive and negative experiences with the patient portal. The statistical analysis included multivariate regression, and the experiences were analyzed using inductive content analysis. RESULTS A total of 4719 patients responded (response rate 0.37% (4719/1,262,708)) to the survey. The patient portal’s usability was rated as good, with a mean SUS score of 74.3. Reporting positive and negative experiences explained 23% of the variation in perceived usability. Provided information or lack of information were the most common positive and negative experiences. Furthermore, specific functionalities, such as prescription renewal and the easiness of the patient portal, were often mentioned as positive experiences. Similarly, difficulties in finding information or with specific functionalities were causes of negative experiences. The patients also mentioned negative emotions, such as anger and frustration, as part of their negative experiences. CONCLUSIONS Reporting positive experiences related to better perceived usability, and reporting negative experiences related to worse perceived usability. The results suggest that positive and negative experiences provide relevant information about perceived usability. Patients’ experiences offer detailed knowledge about the benefits and challenges of improving the patient portal’s usability. Usability should be improved so that patients receive information easily and quickly. Respondents would also appreciate interactive features in the patient portal.