Perceptions of adopters versus non-adopters of a patient portal: an application of diffusion of innovation theory

Srinivas Emani,Rajani Larocca,Amy Wheeler,Jonathan S Wald,Deborah H Williams,Stuart R Lipsitz,Ellen Peters,David W Bates,Vlad Suric,Andrew S Karson,Sonali Desai,John Stone

doi:10.14236/jhi.v25i3.991

Abstract

BackgroundPatient portals have emerged as an important tool through which patients can access online health information and engage in their health care. However, we know little about how patients perceive...

Highlights

Patient portals have emerged as an important tool through which patients can access online health information and engage in their health care
Three factors representing perceived attributes from diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory accounted for 73% of the variance in the data: Factor 1 – Relative Advantage (27%); Factor 2 – Ease of Use (24%) and Factor 3 – Trialability (22%)
Organisations seeking to increase the adoption of patient portals should implement strategies to promote the relative advantage of portals as, for example, through posters in waiting and exam rooms

Summary

Introduction

Patient portals have emerged as an important tool through which patients can access online health information and engage in their health care. Patient portals have emerged as an important tool through which patients can access online health information and engage in their healthcare.[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12] As a result, there has been a considerable interest in the adoption of patient portals in general and in the characteristics of patients who adopt (or do not adopt) a patient portal Both qualitative and quantitative studies have emerged on the adoption of patient portals. In a study of the patient portal use, we found users of a portal were more educated and had a higher income than non-adopters of the portal.[16]

Methods

Results

Conclusion