Patients Need Help To Better Understand Test Results Available From Online Portals

Even though many patients have access to online portals to get timely results of medical tests, most do not receive enough information to help them understand test results, a new AHRQ-funded study found. Researchers also found that patients who receive an abnormal test result are twice as likely to have negative emotions and call their physicians compared with patients whose test results were normal.Researchers examined patients’ experiences with online portals based on 95 interviews with adults between 2015 and 2016 at four large Veterans Administration outpatient clinics in Houston. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) did not receive any explanatory information or interpretation of tests results, and nearly half (46 percent) conducted online searches for further information about their results. Researchers concluded that simply providing access to test results through patient portals is insufficient to enhancing patients’ experience of care and called for additional strategies to help patients interpret and manage their online test results. Access the abstract of the study published in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association.

2017 Dec 12. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocx140. [Epub ahead of print]

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

Giardina TD1,2, Baldwin J1,2, Nystrom DT3, Sittig DF4, Singh H1,2.

Author information

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Online portals provide patients with access to their test results, but it is unknown how patients use these tools to manage resultsand 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 viaportals 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.