Department of Computer Science, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.
Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
J Med Internet Res. 2023 Jun 30;25:e45974. doi: 10.2196/45974.
Patient portals not only provide patients with access to electronic health records (EHRs) and other digital health services, such as prescription renewals, but they can also improve patients' self-management, engagement with health care professionals (HCPs), and care processes. However, these benefits depend on patients' willingness to use patient portals and, ultimately, their experiences with the usefulness and ease of use of the portals.
This study aimed to investigate the perceived usability of a national patient portal and the relationship of patients' very positive and very negative experiences with perceived usability. The study was aimed to be the first step in developing an approach for benchmarking the usability of patient portals in different countries.
Data were collected through a web-based survey of the My Kanta patient portal's logged-in patient users in Finland from January 24, 2022, to February 14, 2022. Respondents were asked to rate the usability of the patient portal, and the ratings were used to calculate approximations of the System Usability Scale (SUS) score. Open-ended questions asked the patients about their positive and negative experiences with the patient portal. The statistical analysis included multivariate regression, and the experience narratives were analyzed using inductive content analysis.
Of the 1,262,708 logged-in patient users, 4719 responded to the survey, giving a response rate of 0.37%. The patient portal's usability was rated as good, with a mean SUS score of 74.3 (SD 14.0). Reporting a very positive experience with the portal was positively associated with perceived usability (β=.51; P<.001), whereas reporting a very negative experience was negatively associated with perceived usability (β=-1.28; P<.001). These variables explained 23% of the variation in perceived usability. The information provided and a lack of information were the most common positive and negative experiences. Furthermore, specific functionalities, such as prescription renewal and the ease of using the patient portal, were often mentioned as very positive experiences. The patients also mentioned negative emotions, such as anger and frustration, as part of their very negative experiences.
The study offers empirical evidence about the significant role of individual experiences when patients are evaluating the usability of patient portals. The results suggest that positive and negative experiences provide relevant information that can be used for improving the patient portal's usability. Usability should be improved so that patients receive information efficiently, easily, and quickly. Respondents would also appreciate interactive features in the patient portal.
患者门户不仅为患者提供了访问电子健康记录（EHR）和其他数字健康服务（如处方续期）的途径，还可以改善患者的自我管理、与医疗保健专业人员（HCP）的互动以及护理流程。然而，这些好处取决于患者使用患者门户的意愿，最终取决于他们对门户的有用性和易用性的体验。
本研究旨在调查对国家患者门户的感知可用性，以及患者非常积极和非常消极体验与感知可用性之间的关系。该研究旨在成为开发不同国家患者门户可用性基准方法的第一步。
本研究于 2022 年 1 月 24 日至 2 月 14 日通过芬兰 My Kanta 患者门户的已登录患者用户进行了一项基于网络的调查，收集数据。受访者被要求对患者门户的可用性进行评分，评分用于计算系统可用性量表（SUS）得分的近似值。开放性问题询问了患者对患者门户的积极和消极体验。统计分析包括多元回归，对体验叙述进行了归纳内容分析。
在 1262708 名已登录患者用户中，有 4719 名患者回应了调查，回应率为 0.37%。患者门户的可用性被评为良好，平均 SUS 得分为 74.3（SD 14.0）。报告对门户有非常积极的体验与感知可用性呈正相关（β=.51；P<.001），而报告非常消极的体验与感知可用性呈负相关（β=-1.28；P<.001）。这些变量解释了感知可用性变化的 23%。提供信息和缺乏信息是最常见的积极和消极体验。此外，诸如处方续期和使用患者门户的易用性等特定功能经常被提及为非常积极的体验。患者还提到了愤怒和沮丧等负面情绪，作为他们非常消极体验的一部分。
本研究提供了关于患者在评估患者门户可用性时个人体验的重要作用的经验证据。结果表明，积极和消极体验提供了相关信息，可以用于改善患者门户的可用性。应提高可用性，以便患者能够高效、轻松、快速地获得信息。受访者还希望患者门户具有交互功能。
