A study published in MIS Quarterly found that getting more patients to actively use patient portals could help with engagement and boost outcomes, Patient Engagement HIT reported.
The research was done by the University of Texas at Austin and found that frequent patient portal users are often in hospitals for shorter times when they are admitted versus those who do not use patient portals.
“The study is good news for hospitals and patients alike,” Indranil Bardhan, the study’s lead researcher and a professor of information, risk and operations management in UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, said in a statement, the news agency reported. “Effective use of patient health information systems is a good predictor of future patient behaviors and health outcomes.”
The researchers looked at patient portal data from 12 years and found that patients who used the portals were 2 to 4% less likely to be hospitalized, according to the news agency.
“Our results highlight the importance of patient–provider engagement by showing that active patient participation in decision making, care management, and self-care is associated with better health outcomes,” the researchers said in the discussion section of their article, the news agency reported.
