Pediatric patient portal use in one health system

Abstract

Objective: The study sought to assess, for children in one large health system, (1) characteristics of active users of the patient portal (≥1 use in prior 12 months), (2) portal use by adolescents, and (3) variations in pediatric patient portal use.

Materials and methods: We analyzed data from the electronic health record regarding pediatric portal use during 2017-2018 across a health system (39 871 pediatric patients).

Results: Altogether, 63.5% of pediatric patients were active portal users. Children (proxies) who were boys, privately insured, white, and spoke English were more likely to be active users. Common uses involved messaging with physicians, medications, allergies, letters, and laboratory results. By 15 years of age, >50% of adolescents used the portal by themselves (without a proxy). Pediatric portal use varied widely across practices.

Discussion: Pediatric or adolescent portal use is quite high, but large variations exist.

Conclusion: Use of the portal for pediatric care may reflect varying pediatric patient engagement.

Keywords: health information technology; patient portal; pediatrics.