Online Health Portals Research Articles

Online Portal Use of Pathology Reports in Patients With Solid Tumors.

Patients can now immediately review pathology reports via online health portals. To better characterize patient perceptions of pathology report helpfulness and preferences for access of pathology reports via a patient portal. Semistructured interviews were conducted with oncology patients with breast, endocrine, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and thoracic malignancies. Patient demographic information, cancer type, question responses, and thematically grouped comments were statistically analyzed. Among 230 patients, there was equal sex distribution (116 of 230, 50.4% female; 114 of 230, 49.6% male). Patients who viewed or had a support member view their reports in the portal (172 of 230; 74.8%) differed from those who did not (58 of 230; 25.2%) only in perception of helpfulness (P < .001) of the report. Difficulty understanding medical terminology was the most frequently cited challenge among both those who found the reports helpful (30 of 160; 18.75%) and not helpful (31 of 46; 67.4%). Most patients (196 of 230; 85.2%) preferred immediate release of results, even if the news was bad, whereas some (34 of 230; 14.7%) would opt out of immediate release for fear of misunderstanding (11 of 34; 32.4%) or receiving distressing information from reading the report (23 of 34; 67.6%). Options for portal flexibility (ie, patient choice of opting for immediate release of some, but not all, results), patient-centered pathology reports, educational materials, clinician preparation of patients, and tailored patient support are strategies that can help more patients benefit from reviewing pathology report information.

Helping patients navigate the immediate release of medical records: MedEd, a novel patient engagement technology

BackgroundThrough online health portals, patients receive complex medical reports without interpretation from their healthcare provider. This study evaluated the usability of MedEd, a patient engagement tool providing definitions of medical terminology in breast pathology and radiology reports. MethodsIndividuals who underwent a normal screening mammogram were invited to complete semi-structured interviews where they downloaded MedEd and discussed their download experience. Acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of MedEd were evaluated. Results143 individuals were invited to participate, and 14 semi-structured interviews were completed. Participants reported ease of downloading and navigating MedEd with concerns about privacy and others’ abilities to download. Participants demonstrated high acceptability (mean 4.48/5, SD 0.95), appropriateness (mean 4.66/5, SD 0.83), and feasibility (mean 4.48/5, SD 1.04) scores. ConclusionParticipants expressed excitement for future use of MedEd and provided suggestions for improvements. Next steps include evaluating comprehension of real breast reports while using MedEd and expanding patient access.

Adolescents’ reasons for accessing their health records online, perceived usefulness and experienced provider encouragement: a national survey in Sweden

BackgroundHaving online access to electronic health records (EHRs) may help patients become engaged in their care at an early age. However, little is known about adolescents using patient portals. A...

Transition to adult healthcare for immigrant youth: Practice recommendations

IntroductionThe transition from pediatric to adult healthcare is challenging for adolescents and young adults (AYA) with pediatric-onset chronic health conditions. Although barriers faced by AYA during transition are well-documented, previous studies have not considered how migration and settlement impact patient and family experiences. ObjectivesTo fill this gap, we conducted a qualitative descriptive study to explore the recommendations for policy and practice from the perspectives of immigrant and refugee AYA living with chronic health conditions in Canada as they transition from pediatric to adult healthcare. We also sought the perspectives of their parents/caregivers and service providers. MethodsSemi-structured individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with 20 AYA, 14 caregivers, and 5 service providers. AYA were 1st or 2nd generation immigrants to Canada, aged 16–25, with childhood-onset chronic health conditions. Parents or caregivers were 1st generation immigrants, having children with chronic health conditions. Service providers delivered healthcare or other services to immigrant populations. ResultsRecommendations to improve the transition process and mitigate barriers to care included providing more accessible information about patients’ health conditions prior to transition, moving the age of transfer beyond age 18, establishing a centralized online health portal for patients who are transitioning to the adult system, providing family case workers, increasing language support, and increasing cross-sector support. ConclusionA broad range of recommendations aimed at improving the transition process were provided. Future interventions to support transition from pediatric to adult care for immigrants and refugees should incorporate these recommendations.

The NORDeHEALTH 2022 Patient Survey: Cross-Sectional Study of National Patient Portal Users in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia.

Although many surveys have been conducted on patients accessing their own health records in recent years, there is a limited amount of nationwide cross-country data available on patients' views and preferences. To address this gap, an international survey of patient users was conducted in the Nordic eHealth project, NORDeHEALTH. We aimed to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics and experiences of patients who accessed their electronic health records (EHRs) through national patient portals in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. A cross-sectional web-based survey was distributed using the national online health portals. The target participants were patients who accessed the national patient portals at the start of 2022 and who were aged ≥15 years. The survey included a mixture of close-ended and free-text questions about participant sociodemographics, usability experience, experiences with health care and the EHR, reasons for reading health records online, experience with errors, omissions and offense, opinions about security and privacy, and the usefulness of portal functions. In this paper, we summarized the data on participant demographics, past experience with health care, and the patient portal through descriptive statistics. In total, 29,334 users completed the survey, of which 9503 (32.40%) were from Norway, 13,008 (44.35%) from Sweden, 4713 (16.07%) from Finland, and 2104 (7.17%) from Estonia. National samples were comparable according to reported gender, with about two-thirds identifying as women (19,904/29,302, 67.93%). Age distributions were similar across the countries, but Finland had older users while Estonia had younger users. The highest attained education and presence of health care education varied among the national samples. In all 4 countries, patients most commonly rated their health as "fair" (11,279/29,302, 38.48%). In Estonia, participants were more often inclined to rate their health positively, whereas Norway and Sweden had the highest proportion of negative health ratings. Across the whole sample, most patients received some care in the last 2 years (25,318/29,254, 86.55%). Mental health care was more common (6214/29,254, 21.24%) than oncological care (3664/29,254, 12.52%). Overall, most patients had accessed their health record "2 to 9 times" (11,546/29,306, 39.4%), with the most frequent users residing in Sweden, where about one-third of patients accessed it "more than 20 times" (4571/13,008, 35.14%). This is the first large-scale international survey to compare patient users' sociodemographics and experiences with accessing their EHRs. Although the countries are in close geographic proximity and demonstrate similar advancements in giving their residents online records access, patient users in this survey differed. We will continue to investigate patients' experiences and opinions about national patient-accessible EHRs through focused analyses of the national and combined data sets from the NORDeHEALTH 2022 Patient Survey.

Text-based predictions of COVID-19 diagnosis from self-reported chemosensory descriptions

BackgroundThere is a prevailing view that humans’ capacity to use language to characterize sensations like odors or tastes is poor, providing an unreliable source of information.MethodsHere, we developed a machine learning method based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) using Large Language Models (LLM) to predict COVID-19 diagnosis solely based on text descriptions of acute changes in chemosensation, i.e., smell, taste and chemesthesis, caused by the disease. The dataset of more than 1500 subjects was obtained from survey responses early in the COVID-19 pandemic, in Spring 2020.ResultsWhen predicting COVID-19 diagnosis, our NLP model performs comparably (AUC ROC ~ 0.65) to models based on self-reported changes in function collected via quantitative rating scales. Further, our NLP model could attribute importance of words when performing the prediction; sentiment and descriptive words such as “smell”, “taste”, “sense”, had strong contributions to the predictions. In addition, adjectives describing specific tastes or smells such as “salty”, “sweet”, “spicy”, and “sour” also contributed considerably to predictions.ConclusionsOur results show that the description of perceptual symptoms caused by a viral infection can be used to fine-tune an LLM model to correctly predict and interpret the diagnostic status of a subject. In the future, similar models may have utility for patient verbatims from online health portals or electronic health records.

Intimate Partner Violence and the Pediatric Electronic Health Record: A Qualitative Study.

To explore expert perspectives on risks associated with the pediatric electronic health record (EHR) for intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors and their children and to identify strategies that may mitigate these risks. We conducted semistructured interviews with multidisciplinary pediatric IPV experts (nursing, physicians, social workers, hospital security, IPV advocates) recruited via snowball sampling. We coded interview transcripts using thematic analysis, then consolidated codes into themes. Twenty-eight participants completed interviews. Participants identified the primary source of risk as an abuser's potential access to a child's EHR by legal and illegal means. They noted that abuser's access to multiple pediatric EHR components (eg, online health portals, clinical notes, contact information) may result in escalated violence, stalking, and manipulation of IPV survivors. Suggested risk mitigation strategies included limited and coded documentation, limiting EHR access, and discussing documentation with the IPV survivor. Challenges to using these strategies included healthcare providers' usual practice of detailed documentation and that information documented may confer both risk and benefit concurrently. Reported potential benefits of the pediatric EHR for IPV survivors included ensuring continuity of care, decreasing need to repeatedly talk about trauma histories, and communication of safety plans. Our findings suggest the pediatric EHR may confer both risks and benefits for IPV survivors and their children. Further work is needed to develop best practices to address IPV risks related to the pediatric EHR, to ensure consistent use of these practices, and to include these practices as standard functionalities of the pediatric EHR.

Pemanfaatan Telehealth dalam Peningkatan Derajat Kesehatan Anak dengan Asma

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Background&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;: Asthma is a condition in which the airways are narrowed due to hyperactivity to certain stimuli, which causes inflammation. Telehealth includes the use of phone calls, text messages, email, or online health portals that allow patients to communicate with healthcare providers. &lt;strong&gt;Method&lt;/strong&gt;: Design using Literature Review, which is a study based on a summary of several studies related to the research topic that has been determined. Journals used through searches with databases from EBSCOhost, ProQuest and Clinical Key between 2017 and 2021. &lt;strong&gt;Results&lt;/strong&gt;: Based on the journals collected, the use of Telehealth in children with Asthma is effective in increasing the level of adherence to treatment, reducing the frequency of hospitalization and reducing the frequency of not attending school. because of recurrence. &lt;strong&gt;Conclusions&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;and Recommendations:&lt;/strong&gt;Telehealth facilitate monitoring of children's conditions and control the level of child adherence to treatment, reduce recurrence rates so that the quality of life of children with asthma is better which then reduces mortality due to asthma. The author recommends that Telehealth can be implemented in Indonesia&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Keywords: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Telehealth, Asthma, Pediatric&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Ontario COVID-19 assessment centre practices in patient counselling, education, and follow-up care: A provincial survey

In March 2020, COVID-19 assessment centres were launched across the province of Ontario to facilitate COVID-19 testing outside of emergency departments. We aimed to study the degree to which assessment centres provide education and follow-up care for patients with suspected COVID-19. We conducted an online survey of Ontario COVID-19 assessment centre directors between September 15 and October 15, 2020. The primary outcomes studied were the types of educational modalities employed and information conveyed, methods and frequency of test result communication, and any follow-up care that was offered. Survey respondents were also asked to provide descriptions of barriers to patient education and test communication. A total of 56 directors (representing 73 assessment centres) completed the survey. The most frequent educational modalities employed were educational handouts (92%), direct in-person counselling (89%), and referral to website (72%). Seventy-one percent of respondents indicated patients with positive test results would be notified, and 61% of respondents indicated that follow-up care would be offered. The most frequently reported barriers to patient education were insufficient time and high volume of tests, while the most frequently reported barriers to communication of test results were difficulty accessing online health portals and high volume of tests. The ability of many assessment centres to provide patient education is limited by both individual patient and system-level factors. Assessment centres may benefit from standardization of educational materials, improved accessibility to test results for patients in marginalized groups, and virtual pathways to facilitate additional counselling and care for individuals who test positive.

Patient Access to Mental Health Notes: Motivating Evidence-Informed Ethical Guidelines.

In the last decade, many health organizations have embarked on a revolution in clinical communication. Using electronic devices, patients can now gain rapid access to their online clinical records. Legally, patients in many countries already have the right to obtain copies of their health records; however, the practice known as "open notes" is different. Via secure online health portals, patients are now able to access their test results, lists of medications, and the very words that clinicians write about them. Open notes are growing with most patients in the Nordic countries already offered access to their full electronic record. From April 2021, a new federal ruling in the United States mandates-with few exemptions-that providers offer patients access to their online notes (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Department of Health and Human Services, Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-03-04/pdf/2019-02224.pdf#page=99). Against these policy changes, only limited attention has been paid to the ethical question about whether patients with mental health conditions should access their notes, as mentioned in the articles by Strudwick, Yeung, and Gratzer (Front Psychiatry 10:917, 2019) and Blease, O'Neill, Walker, Hägglund, and Torous (Lancet Psychiatry 7:924-925, 2020). In this article, our goal is to motivate further inquiry into opening mental health notes to patients, particularly among persons with serious mental illness and those accessing psychological treatments. Using biomedical ethical principles to frame our discussion, we identify key empirical questions that must be pursued to inform ethical practice guidelines.

Out of reach? Correlates of cervical cancer underscreening in women with varying levels of healthcare interactions in a United States integrated delivery system

One in five U.S. women with health insurance are underscreened for cervical cancer. We sought to identify whether underscreening correlates differed among women with different levels of health care interaction. Among women age 30–64 years who were members of an integrated U.S. health system, we used 2014–2015 electronic health record data to identify underscreened cases (≥3.4 years since last Papanicolaou (Pap) test, n=3352) and screening-adherent controls (<3.4 years since last Pap test, n=45,359) and extracted data on potential underscreening correlates (demographics, health history, and healthcare utilization). We calculated the odds of underscreening in the total population and by subgroups defined by healthcare visits and online health portal usage in the prior 12 months. Underscreening was associated with older age (50–64 vs. 30–39; odds ratio (OR)=1.6; 95%CI=1.4–1.8), current tobacco use (vs. never use; OR=2.1; 95%CI=1.8–2.2), higher BMI (≥35 kg/m2 vs <25 kg/m2, OR=2.0; 95%CI=1.8–2.3), screening non-adherence for colorectal cancer (OR=5.1; 95%CI=4.6–5.7) and breast cancer (OR=8.1, 95%CI=7.2–9.0), and having no recent visit with their primary care provider (PCP) nor recent health portal use (vs. recent PCP visit and portal use; OR=8.4, 95%CI=7.6–9.4). Underscreening correlates were similar between the total study population and within all healthcare interaction groups. Interaction with the healthcare system is associated with lower odds of underscreening, but sociodemographic and health status correlates are similar regardless of primary care visits or online portal use. These data support the need for additional interventions to reach insured women who remain underscreened for cervical cancer.

The Promise of Patient Portals for Individuals Living With Chronic Illness: Qualitative Study Identifying Pathways of Patient Engagement.

BackgroundPatients play a critical role in managing their health, especially in the context of chronic conditions like diabetes. Electronic patient portals have been identified as a potential means to improve patient engagement; that is, patients’ involvement in their care. However, little is known about the pathways through which portals may help patients engage in their care.ObjectiveOur objective is to understand how an electronic patient portal facilitates patient engagement among individuals with diabetes.MethodsThis qualitative study employed semistructured telephone interviews of 40 patients living with diabetes since at least 2011, who had experienced uncontrolled diabetes, and had used secure messaging through a portal at least 4 times over 18 months. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using primarily an inductive approach to identify how patients living with diabetes use an online health portal to support diabetes self-management.ResultsOverall, patients who used the portal reported feeling engaged in their health care. We identified four pathways by which the portal facilitates patient engagement and some challenges. The portal provides a platform that patients use to (1) better understand their health by asking questions about new symptoms, notes, or labs, (2) prepare for medical appointments by reviewing labs and notes, (3) coordinate care between VA (Veterans Affairs) and non-VA health care teams, and (4) reach out to providers to request help between visits. Several patients reported that the portal helped improve the patient-provider relationship; however, aspects of the portal design may hinder engagement for others. Patients reported challenges with both secure messaging and access to medical records that had negative impacts on their engagement. Benefits for patient engagement were described by many types of portal users with varying degrees of diabetes control.ConclusionsPatient portals support engagement by facilitating patient access to their health information and by facilitating patient-provider communication. Portals can help a wide range of users engage with their care.

Combining end-user recruitment methods for usability testing of eTriage Service

The Finnish national eHealth and eSocial strategy emphasizes citizens’ active role in promoting their own well-being by improving information management and implementing self-management and online services. In the Emergency Hub, part of the Finnish online health portal (Health Village), an eTriage Service is being developed by ICT experts and healthcare professionals. To make the eTriage Service available to the public, the user interface must comply with relevant quality and safety regulations. The aim of this paper is to describe the recruitment methods used for eTriage Service usability testing and the feasibility of those methods. The results of the actual usability testing are not discussed in this article. Two different recruiting methods were combined: online recruiting with remote testing and organized on-site testing occasions. A total of 219 volunteer end-users were recruited and 115 (52.5%) of them performed the usability testing. A better participation rate was achieved with organized on-site testing occasions, but the method consumed significantly more time and effort on the part of developers. A sufficient number and variety of end-users were recruited by combining different recruiting methods. Online recruiting with remote usability testing helps reduce the costs and effort of developers but may require a longer period of time to achieve a sufficient number of testers. A complex or highly novel, self-performing test process without any support might affect negatively the number of testers available by the online recruitment. It also seems that usability testing for digital health services can be more attractive to healthcare professionals than to persons with no healthcare education background.

The role of internet-based healthcare services in the healthcare process: the example of a Hungarian health portal

E-health plays an increasingly important role in healthcare since it can improve the access to health information. In this article, we are seeking to answer the following questions with respect to online health services: To what extent can they reduce the workload of healthcare professionals in the healthcare system? What kind of health benefits can e-health produce for patients? In our study, we conducted a content analysis based on 'the doctor answers' columns of a Hungarian online health portal. We examined the direct and indirect references to two indicators (seeing the doctor, therapeutic advice) in the responses in relation to ten disease groups. Our results suggest that online health portals can moderately reduce the workload of healthcare professionals and at the same time they can produce considerable health gain for patients.

Incorporating Reporting Efforts to Manage and Improve Health and Wellness Programs.

Wellness programs are designed to help individuals maintain or improve their health. This article describes how a reporting process can be used to help manage and improve a wellness program. Beginning in 2014, a wellness pilot program became available in New Jersey for individuals with an AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance plan insured by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company. The program has since expanded to include Missouri, Texas, Alabama, and Washington. This wellness program includes an online health portal, one-on-one telephonic coaching, gym membership discounts, and local health events. To assure smooth program operations and alignment with program objectives, weekly and monthly reports are produced. The weekly report includes metrics on member engagement and utilization for the aforementioned 4 program offerings and reports on the last 4 weeks, as well as for the current month and the current year to date. The monthly report includes separate worksheets for each state and a summary worksheet that includes all states combined, and provides metrics on overall engagement as well as utilization of the 4 program components. Although the monthly reports were used to better manage the 4 program offerings, the weekly reports help management to gauge response to program marketing. Reporting can be a data-driven management tool to help manage wellness programs. Reports provide rapid feedback regarding program performance. In contrast, in-depth program evaluations serve a different purpose, such as to report program-related savings, return on investment, or to report other longer term program-related outcomes.

Online Health Information-Seeking Behavior and Confidence in Filling Out Online Forms Among Latinos: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the California Health Interview Survey, 2011-2012

BackgroundHealth information is increasingly being disseminated online, but there is a knowledge gap between Latinos and non-Hispanic whites, particularly those whose English language proficiency is poor, in terms both of online health information-seeking behavior and computer literacy skills. This knowledge gap may also exist between US- and foreign-born Latinos.ObjectiveThe specific aim of this study was to examine Internet use, online health information-seeking behavior, and confidence in filling out online forms among Latinos, particularly as it relates to health-risk behaviors. We then stratified our sample by nativity.MethodsWe used the adult population file of the 2011-2012 California Health Interview Survey, analyzing Internet use, online health information-seeking behavior, and confidence in filling out online forms using binary logistic regression among Latinos and whites (N=27,289), Latinos (n=9506), and Latinos who use the Internet (n=6037).ResultsForeign-born Latinos (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.58-0.88, P=.002) have lower odds of engaging in online health information-seeking behavior, and higher odds (OR 2.90, 95% CI 2.07-4.06, P<.001) of reporting a lack of confidence in filling out online forms compared to US-born Latinos. Correlates of online health information-seeking behavior and form confidence varied by nativity.ConclusionsLatinos, particularly foreign-born individuals, are at an increased risk of being left behind as the move to increase online content delivery and care expands. As online health information dissemination and online health portals become more popular, the impact of these sites on Latino gaps in coverage and care should be considered.

Insignificant Findings: Don’t Leave Them Questioning the Significance

Radiologists frequently see incidental findings of no importance on imaging studies. These findings may be in organs unrelated to the patient’s primary problem and do not require further imaging. An unhelpful, but common, practice is to describe an insignificant finding without an explanation of its importance and assume that everyone will understand. The referring physician and patient are left wondering what, if anything, should be done as follow-up. Why do radiologists mention insignificant findings? They may be in the habit of reporting all detected findings, even if they are within the spectrum of normal. Alternatively, some radiologists may be concerned that an unimportant finding will be detected by a physician reviewing the imaging and, if the finding is not described in the report, that the physician may think the finding was missed. Finally, reporting insignificant findings could be a manifestation of defensive radiology. Some radiologists may feel more secure mentioning findings in the remote chance that they would be liable if the findings progressed. The practice of burying an incidental finding in the body of a report without an explanation is of no consequence if the recipient of the report reads only the impression. However, increasingly, patients are accessing radiology reports through online health portals. A patient with a headache who is reading her brain MRI report will pore over each word. If, for example, the radiologist describes white matter lesions without an explanation of their importance, she will turn to the Internet. There she will find a listing of anxietyprovoking conditions such as demyelination, vasculitis, and dementia. By completing the sentence and stating “A few white matter lesions in the left frontal lobe are of no clinical importance and most likely represent the remnants of previous trauma or infection,” radiologists can help patients avoid this unfortunate scenario. Radiologists should close the loop on insignificant findings by noting their clinical importance so that everyone is clear that the findings are insignificant.

111. Evaluating Parental Attitudes Towards the Acceptability and Feasibility of an Online Health Portal for Detained Youth

For many justice-involved youth, the combination of poor prior health education, inconsistent care coordination upon release, lack of adequate health insurance, and difficulty accessing and sharing their own personal health information (PHI) with caregivers creates significant barriers to seeking and receiving needed health care upon community reentry. By consolidating and storing health information in one secure online location, electronic personal health records (PHRs) have the potential to bridge the health information gap threatening continuity of care for these adolescents.

Trends in U.S. Consumers’ Use of E-Health Services: Fine-Grained Results from a Longitudinal, Demographic Survey

Although growth in U.S. consumers’ overall use of e-health is strong, it is being driven by only a portion of the e-health services that are offered through online health portals. Fine-grained, longitudinal analysis of three representative e-health services shows that, while online communication with medical personnel has grown consistently between 2003 and 2012, the purchase of health supplies online plateaued by 2007, and participation in online support groups has been flat since 2003. Socio-economic factors of income and education level continue to have an impact on consumers’ use of e-health; however, differences based on age, sex, and race/ethnicity are trending lower during this period. The findings caution against the common practice of studying e-health adoption principally at the level of online health portals, which can mask substantial variation in adoption trends among the underlying e-health services, and suggest that it is important to update trend studies on a regular basis to maintain currency.

LEVEL OF PRO-HEALTH BEHAVIOR OF WOMEN FROM RURAL AND METROPOLITAN ENVIRONMENT WHO ARE ACTIVE ON THE HEALTH-RELATED INTERNET PORTALS

The development of health education, education in the scope of healthy lifestyles is significantly affected by the mass media, and primarily the Internet, which is an interactive source of information and the space to acquire competencies supporting health. Access to the Internet is getting more and more widespread; also the range of easily accessible content, related to the lifestyle has expanded. Migrations of populations tend to impair the traditionally understood image of the urban and rural environments. Technological advances in the field of transport communications and IT have also reduced the distance between the two discussed environments. The aim of this study was to assess the level of pro-health behaviors of women who are interested in a healthy lifestyle, and who live both in the countryside and in large cities. The study involved 78 women from the towns with up to 3 thousand inhabitants and 130 from the cities with a population over 100 thousand inhabitants. All research participants were active participants in one of the largest health services for mature women in Poland. The research was part of the PARP project - Global health problems , implemented by the Foundation ‘Smak Żcia’. Standardized research tools Health Behavior Inventory were applied according to the adaptation of Z. Juczynki. As many as 30% of patients achieved a low level of pro-health behaviors, 45% obtained an average score, and only 25%-a high one, which due to an interest in the subject of a healthy lifestyle, occurring as a constant activity on the online health portal, can be regarded as an unsatisfactory result. The research participants (female subscribers of advice from pro-health service) willing to share their experience, commented on a variety of content related to health issues, however, the level of their health behaviors did not differ significantly from the average values for the Polish population. There was no statistically significant difference in the level of realized health behaviors between women living in rural and metropolitan environments. Research confirmed that Internet theme services concerning issues of a healthy lifestyle, are a chance to equalize disparities in pro-health behaviors, and consequently - in health itself, thus initiatives of raising interest in health education through the mass media ought to be supported.