Section of Hygiene, University Department of Life Sciences and Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Hygiene and Public Health Service, ASL Roma 1, Rome, Italy.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 Sep 8;23(9):e26189. doi: 10.2196/26189.
Patient portals are becoming increasingly popular worldwide even though their impact on individual health and health system efficiency is still unclear.
The aim of this systematic review was to summarize evidence on the impact of patient portals on health outcomes and health care efficiency, and to examine user characteristics, attitudes, and satisfaction.
We searched the PubMed and Web of Science databases for articles published from January 1, 2013, to October 31, 2019. Eligible studies were primary studies reporting on the impact of patient portal adoption in relation to health outcomes, health care efficiency, and patient attitudes and satisfaction. We excluded studies where portals were not accessible for patients and pilot studies, with the exception of articles evaluating patient attitudes.
Overall, 3456 records were screened, and 47 articles were included. Among them, 11 studies addressed health outcomes reporting positive results, such as better monitoring of health status, improved patient-doctor interaction, and improved quality of care. Fifteen studies evaluated the impact of digital patient portals on the utilization of health services with mixed results. Patient characteristics were described in 32 studies, and it was reported that the utilization rate usually increases with age and female gender. Finally, 30 studies described attitudes and defined the main barriers (concerns about privacy and data security, and lack of time) and facilitators (access to clinical data and laboratory results) to the use of a portal.
Evidence regarding health outcomes is generally favorable, and patient portals have the potential to enhance the doctor-patient relationship, improve health status awareness, and increase adherence to therapy. It is still unclear whether the use of patient portals improves health service utilization and efficiency.
患者门户在全球范围内越来越受欢迎，尽管它们对个人健康和卫生系统效率的影响仍不清楚。
本系统评价旨在总结患者门户对健康结果和卫生保健效率的影响的证据，并检查用户特征、态度和满意度。
我们在 PubMed 和 Web of Science 数据库中搜索了 2013 年 1 月 1 日至 2019 年 10 月 31 日发表的文章。合格的研究是报告患者门户采用与健康结果、卫生保健效率以及患者态度和满意度相关影响的主要研究。我们排除了门户对患者不可用的研究和试点研究，但评估患者态度的文章除外。
总共筛选了 3456 条记录，纳入了 47 篇文章。其中，11 项研究报告了健康结果，结果为更好地监测健康状况、改善医患互动和提高护理质量。15 项研究评估了数字患者门户对卫生服务利用的影响，结果不一。32 项研究描述了患者特征，并报告说利用率通常随着年龄和女性性别而增加。最后，30 项研究描述了态度，并确定了使用门户的主要障碍（对隐私和数据安全的担忧以及缺乏时间）和促进因素（访问临床数据和实验室结果）。
关于健康结果的证据总体上是有利的，患者门户有可能增强医患关系，提高健康状况意识，并提高治疗依从性。患者门户的使用是否能提高卫生服务利用率和效率仍不清楚。
