A systematic review of the literature on consumers' use of patient portals: Preliminary results

ABSTRACT To assess our collective understanding of how consumers use patient portals, we conducted a systematic literature review focusing on understanding patients and caregivers' perceptions, needs, requirements, and use of patient portals with the goal of informing the design of effective patient portals. Through multiple rounds of screening, we identified 56 relevant publications for analysis. The preliminary analysis suggested that patient portals are implemented in a wide range of health care settings, ranging from large medical centers to small primary care facilities. Patient portals primarily target patients with chronic conditions. Many aspects of the use of patient portals were covered in the literature, including users' use of specific portal functions (such as managing medications and accessing imaging results), their attitudes toward patient portals, and barriers to patient portal use. Our findings call for more attention from information science researchers to contribute to this important area.