Parents of Ill Children Vary in Web-Based Patient Portal Use

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From Medscape Medical News: Parents of Ill Children Vary in Web-Based

Patient Portal Use

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/741995

May 3, 2011 - Parents of children with chronic disease vary in

Internet-based patient portal use to access health information, according to

the results of a retrospective observational studyreported in the May issue

of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

" The objective of this study was to evaluate portal use among families of

children with chronic diseases by describing registration in an

Internet-based portal and characteristics of registrants and nonregistrants,

retention of portal users, characteristics of portal users and nonusers, and

frequency of portal use, " write Terri L. Byczkowski, PhD, MBA, from

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati

College of Medicine, Ohio, and colleagues.

" Based on our early experience, we hypothesized that most families would

obtain a portal account by the end of the study period and that significant

disparities would be found with respect to race and health insurance status.

This study is a first step toward determining both the role that patient

portals potentially can have in improving interactions among parents of

children with chronic diseases and the health care professionals who care

for them, and, ultimately, the effect of those portals on health-related

outcomes. "

The investigators used data from September 1, 2003, through February 29,

2008, collected from parents of children with diabetes mellitus, juvenile

idiopathic arthritis, or cystic fibrosis who were seen at Cincinnati

Children's Hospital Medical Center. Study endpoints included the percentage

of families who registered a portal account, percentage of families who used

the portal for the first time within 3 months and again 3 to 6 months after

registration, number of times logged in, and session length.

A portal account was registered by 27.9% of 1900 families enrolled in the

study. Nearly half (47.8%) of those who registered used the portal within 3

months of registration, and 15.9% used it again 3 to 6 months after

registration. Factors associated with decreased portal registration were

being black and being insured by Medicaid, whereas more outpatient visits

and having private health insurance coverage were associated with increased

portal registration and use.

Limitations of this study include enrollment of patients with 1 of 3 chronic

diseases and from 1 geographic area, which may limit generalizability to

other settings and diseases. In addition, data are lacking concerning the

various marketing efforts used and the ways healthcare providers discussed

the portal with families, and data were collected only from the parents of

children with chronic diseases, and not the patients themselves.

" Subsequent studies should address parent perceptions of the value portals

add to the management of the chronic disease of their child and ways to

increase that value, " the study authors write. " Barriers to using portals

among racial minorities and publicly insured families should also be studied

to address disparities. "

The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's Place Outcomes Award

supported this study. The study authors have disclosed no relevant financial

relationships.

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2011;165:405-411