Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States.
CATALYST, Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States.
Appl Clin Inform. 2019 Jan;10(1):103-112. doi: 10.1055/s-0039-1677722. Epub 2019 Feb 13.
Patients have demonstrated an eagerness to use portals to access their health information and connect with care providers. While outpatient portals have been extensively studied, there is a recognized need for research that examines inpatient portals.
We conducted this study to improve our understanding about the role of a portal in the context of inpatient care. Our study focused on a large sample of the general adult inpatient population and obtained perspectives from both patients and care team members about inpatient portal use.
We interviewed patients ( = 120) who used an inpatient portal during their hospitalization at 15 days or 6 months after discharge to learn about their portal use. We also interviewed care team members ( = 331) 4 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months after inpatient portal implementation to collect information about their ongoing perspectives about patients' use of the portal.
The perspectives of patients and care team members generally converged on their views of the inpatient portal. Three features-(1) ordering meals, (2) looking up health information, and (3) viewing the care team-were most commonly used; the secure messaging feature was less commonly used and of some concern to care team members. The inpatient portal benefited patients in four main ways: (1) promoted independence, (2) reduced anxiety, (3) informed families, and (4) increased empowerment.
Inpatient portals are recognized as a tool that can enhance the delivery of patient-centered care. In addition to empowering patients by increasing their sense of control, inpatient portals can support family members and caregivers throughout the hospital stay. Given the consistency of perspectives about portal use across patients and care team members, our findings suggest that inpatient portals may facilitate shifts in organizational culture that increase the patient centeredness of care and improve patient experience in the hospital context.
患者渴望使用门户访问自己的健康信息并与医护人员建立联系。虽然已经广泛研究了门诊门户，但需要研究考察住院患者门户。
我们开展本项研究旨在增进对门户在住院护理环境中作用的理解。本研究聚焦于大量普通成年住院患者样本，并从患者和医护团队成员两方面获取对住院门户使用的看法。
我们在患者出院后 15 天或 6 个月时对使用住院门户的患者（ = 120）进行了访谈，了解他们对门户的使用情况。我们还在住院门户实施后 4 周、6 个月和 12 个月时对医护团队成员（ = 331）进行了访谈，收集他们对患者持续使用门户的看法。
患者和医护团队成员的观点基本一致，都对住院门户持肯定态度。患者最常使用的功能有 3 项，分别是：（1）订餐，（2）查询健康信息，以及（3）查看医护团队信息；而使用安全消息传递功能的频率较低，这一功能也让医护团队成员有些担忧。住院门户让患者主要有以下 4 方面受益：（1）增强独立性，（2）减轻焦虑，（3）告知家属，以及（4）增加授权。
住院门户被认为是增强以患者为中心护理的一种工具。除了通过增加患者的控制感来赋予患者权力外，住院门户还可以在整个住院期间为家属和护理人员提供支持。鉴于患者和医护团队成员对门户使用的看法一致，我们的研究结果表明，住院门户可能有助于推动组织文化转变，增强护理的以患者为中心程度，并改善患者在医院环境中的体验。
