Patient portal functionalities and patient outcomes among patients with diabetes: systematic review (Preprint)
OA Location
Author(s)
Type
Working Paper
Abstract
Background:
Patient portal use could help improve diabetes patients’ care and health outcomes due to the features such as appointment booking, e-messaging, repeat prescription ordering that enable patient-centred care and improved patient self-management of the disease.
Objective:
To assess health and healthcare quality outcomes associated with the use of tethered (portals that are connected to the electronic healthcare record) patient portals by adult patients (18 years or older) with diabetes.
Methods:
We searched the databases including Medline, Embase and Scopus and reported the review methodology using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Three independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts, and two reviewers assessed full-texts of relevant studies and performed data extraction and quality assessments of the included studies. We used the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH) Study Quality Assessment Tools to assess the risk of bias of the included studies. Data were summarised through narrative synthesis.
Results:
Twelve studies were included in this review. Nine studies reported outcomes related to glycaemic control and most of them found statistically significant associations between using a patient portal and glycaemic control. Some studies also found an inverse association or no association between patient portal use and blood pressure, LDL cholesterol or BMI. Studies reported mixed outcomes regarding the use of patient portals and healthcare utilisation measures such as office visits, emergency department visits and hospitalisations. Few studies reported overall improved quality of care for diabetes patients who used patient portals.
Conclusions:
Studies mostly reported improved health outcomes for diabetes patients who used patient portals. However, the limitations of studying the effects of patient portals exist that do not guarantee whether the outcomes reported were completely a result of patient portal use or if confounding factors exist. Randomised controlled trials and mixed-methods studies could help understand the mechanisms involved in diabetes patient health outcome improvements and patient portal use. Clinical Trial: The protocol of this systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42019141131).
Patient portal use could help improve diabetes patients’ care and health outcomes due to the features such as appointment booking, e-messaging, repeat prescription ordering that enable patient-centred care and improved patient self-management of the disease.
Objective:
To assess health and healthcare quality outcomes associated with the use of tethered (portals that are connected to the electronic healthcare record) patient portals by adult patients (18 years or older) with diabetes.
Methods:
We searched the databases including Medline, Embase and Scopus and reported the review methodology using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Three independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts, and two reviewers assessed full-texts of relevant studies and performed data extraction and quality assessments of the included studies. We used the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias Tool and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH) Study Quality Assessment Tools to assess the risk of bias of the included studies. Data were summarised through narrative synthesis.
Results:
Twelve studies were included in this review. Nine studies reported outcomes related to glycaemic control and most of them found statistically significant associations between using a patient portal and glycaemic control. Some studies also found an inverse association or no association between patient portal use and blood pressure, LDL cholesterol or BMI. Studies reported mixed outcomes regarding the use of patient portals and healthcare utilisation measures such as office visits, emergency department visits and hospitalisations. Few studies reported overall improved quality of care for diabetes patients who used patient portals.
Conclusions:
Studies mostly reported improved health outcomes for diabetes patients who used patient portals. However, the limitations of studying the effects of patient portals exist that do not guarantee whether the outcomes reported were completely a result of patient portal use or if confounding factors exist. Randomised controlled trials and mixed-methods studies could help understand the mechanisms involved in diabetes patient health outcome improvements and patient portal use. Clinical Trial: The protocol of this systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42019141131).
Date Issued
2020-08-11
Citation
2020
ISSN
1438-8871
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Author(s)
Sponsor
National Institute of Health and Medical Research
Identifier
https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/18976
Grant Number
NIHR200180
Subjects
Medical Informatics
08 Information and Computing Sciences
11 Medical and Health Sciences
17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Publication Status
Published