Making Patient Pathology Results Available Via The myHR May Not Be That Valuable Without Some Extra Work.

This appeared last week:

Study: Online portals fall short on offering context, explanations for test results

by Paige Minemyer 

Dec 13, 2017 11:20am

Patients often do online searches to understand test results posted in portals, according to a new study.

Patients can, and often do, access test results and other healthcare information through online portals, but more work could be done to help them understand what the results mean, according to a new study. 

Researchers interviewed 95 patients who had accessed test results through a patient portal between April 2015 and September 2016, according to data published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Close to two-thirds (63%) of those interviewed did not receive any additional explanation on the results through the portal. 

Nearly half (46%) then looked online for interpretation of the test results, and 51% discussed the results with friends and family instead of physicians. Patients who were not given an explanation about their test results were more likely to be upset�sometimes even if the results were normal or positive�and more likely to call their physicians for more information. 

Fifty-six percent said they had a negative reaction to their test results due to lack of explanation, compared to 21% of those who had a negative reaction with adequate explanation. 

"Our findings suggest that current patient portals are not designed to present information on test results in a meaningful way," the researchers wrote. "While providing patients with access to their test results via portals is a good start, it is insufficient by itself to meet their needs." 

Patient portals are viewed by clinicians as one of the most useful patient engagement tools, and at some practices an increased use of portals has coincided with decreased appointment wait times. 

But, the researchers said that the results show how portals can continue to evolve and support patients. Providing clear interpretation of test results for patients should be a best practice, and as patients may search for additional information on results even if an explanation is provided, portals can be designed to steer them to reputable online sources. 

More here:

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/it/online-patient-portals-engagement-test-results

The full paper is found here:

https://academic.oup.com/jamia/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jamia/ocx140/4689172

Here is the Abstract:

Patient perceptions of receiving test results via online portals: a mixed-methods study

Traber D Giardina Jessica Baldwin Daniel T Nystrom Dean F Sittig Hardeep Singh

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, ocx140, https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocx140

Published: 12 December 2017

Abstract

Objective

Online portals provide patients with access to their test results, but it is unknown how patients use these tools to manage results and what information is available to promote understanding. We conducted a mixed-methods study to explore patients� experiences and preferences when accessing their test results via portals.

Materials and Methods

We conducted 95 interviews (13 semistructured and 82 structured) with adults who viewed a test result in their portal between April 2015 and September 2016 at 4 large outpatient clinics in Houston, Texas. Semistructured interviews were coded using content analysis and transformed into quantitative data and integrated with the structured interview data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the structured data.

Results

Nearly two-thirds (63%) did not receive any explanatory information or test result interpretation at the time they received the result, and 46% conducted online searches for further information about their result. Patients who received an abnormal result were more likely to experience negative emotions (56% vs 21%; P?=?.003) and more likely to call their physician (44% vs 15%; P?=?.002) compared with those who received normal results.

Discussion

Study findings suggest that online portals are not currently designed to present test results to patients in a meaningful way. Patients experienced negative emotions often with abnormal results, but sometimes even with normal results. Simply providing access via portals is insufficient; additional strategies are needed to help patients interpret and manage their online test results.

Conclusion

Given the absence of national guidance, our findings could help strengthen policy and practice in this area and inform innovations that promote patient understanding of test results.

----- End Abstract.

Basically what is being said here is that there are a large number of patients who will be confused, out of their depth and possibly scared by gaining access to their results with are not accompanied with some explanation of what they mean and who to ask if they are confused.

I wonder how the guru�s at the ADHA are planning to address this issue as it is clearly a big one for some patients who are not receiving their results from their clinician face to face! Interestingly the same issue also applies to the NSW e-Health Portal as described in this link:

https://www.opengovasia.com/articles/nsw-health-enhances-its-healthenet-clinical-portal-by-adding-discharge-medication-information-via-my-health-record

David.