Developing a Better Patient Portal: Evaluating Portals Based on the Likelihood of Patient Use

Elizabeth Sprouse, Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Applied Public Health Informatics and Julie Hollberg MD, CMIO, Emory Healthcare. Elizabeth and Dr. Hollberg share the results of a research effort to develop a scorecard to arm healthcare leadership with the ability to strategically design and implement patient portals that patients will use (i.e., technology acceptance). This scoring approach, developed from analysis of academic literature review and interviews with healthcare leaders across the country, provides a clear process for organizations to use when evaluating their current portals on likelihood of patient use and allocating future work to drive patients to actively use their portals. Using this scoring approach can lead to improved portal design and implementation, leading to increased use and patient engagement, with positive patient care results.