Changes in patient portal adoption due to the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic

Even though patient portals are recognized as a promising mechanism to support greater patient engagement, questions remain about access and utilization. This study aims to identify factors related to portal adoption in 2019 and 2020 (before and during the COVID-19). Cross-sectional data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) cycles- 2019 HINTS 5 cycle 3 (N = 5,438) and 2020 HINTS 5 cycle 4 (N = 3,865) were analyzed using STATA-SE version 17 to factors predicting portal adoption. Next, HINTS 5 cycles 3 and 4 were pooled to identify changes in portal feature use and ease of usage among portal users, and barrier to portal use among non-users. Respondents who were college graduates, high income, and married were more likely to adopt patient portals during 2019 and 2020. Aged 75+ and Hispanic respondents reported less frequency of portal access in 2020 versus 2019. Men were more likely to adopt patient portals in 2019 versus women in 2020. Portal users were more likely to use the portal-system features in 2019 versus 2020. Portal non-users reported having multiple-health records as less of a barrier in 2020 compared to 2019. Patient engagement needs heightened attention during the COVID-19 pandemic.