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 U.S. researchers surveyed about 400 adults and found they were
generally comfortable with web portals regardless of how sensitive
the test results might be.
This was among the most popular options for getting results from
routine cholesterol screenings, and the most preferred method for
outcomes from tests for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and
genetic abnormalities.
Even though doctors often call or email patients with test results,
the study findings suggest that this isn’t necessarily what patients
want, said senior author Dr. Daniel Merenstein of Georgetown
University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
“This study makes clear that the majority of people prefer something
different than what we’ve been doing,” Merenstein said.
“With highly sensitive results such as genetic tests results or
tests for STIs, patients may not trust a text message or an email or
voicemail to remain private if somebody else happens to see their
phone,” Merenstein added. “Password protected websites offer them
some additional security and also the convenience to retrieve the
results whenever they want.”
To understand patient preferences for getting test results,
Merenstein and colleagues created a survey they distributed in paper
form around the Georgetown campus and online, via Facebook and email
sharing of the link.
The survey asked about seven options for receiving test results,
other than face to face with a clinician: a password-protected
patient web portal, personal voicemail, personal email, letter, home
phone voicemail, fax and text message.
For STI results, the majority – 51 percent – preferred secure
patient portals. This method was also the most popular choice for
genetic test results, preferred by 46 percent.
For less sensitive results like cholesterol screenings, there were
four options that at least half of patients would be comfortable
using: letter, voicemail on their personal phone, email or
password-protected website.
Limitations of the study include its use of hypothetical situations
in a survey, the authors acknowledge in the Journal of the American
Board of Family Medicine. The survey distribution method also didn’t
allow researchers to gauge a response rate.
Even so, the results may help improve how doctors communicate with
patients, the authors argue.
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This may be particularly true for younger patients who are used to
doing many other tasks, such as banking, online, said Mechelle
Sanders, a researcher at the University of Rochester who wasn’t
involved in the study.
“Using online technology for personal matters is not foreign to
them,” Sanders said by email.
But when the testing situation is real rather than hypothetical,
there might still be drawbacks to sharing results via patient
portals, especially if it’s bad news, noted Dr. Mita Sanghavi Goel,
a researcher at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern
University.
Just because doctors send results doesn’t mean patients will look at
them, or that patients who log on to the portal will understand what
they see there, Goel, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by
email.
Also, patients may benefit from a conversation if the results are
abnormal or require follow-up testing, Goel said. With electronic
communications, doctors typically don’t have a good way to verify
that patients are aware of their results and understand what to do
next, Goel said.
“I suspect that the appeal of password-protected sites are their
convenience, their ability to provide the exact test results and the
opportunity to compare current and prior test results,” Goel said.
“However, if the findings are abnormal (e.g. cancer testing) or
sensitive in nature (e.g. STI testing of one member of a couple),
preferences may change.” Goel added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1MqJgYh Journal of the American Board of
Family Medicine, online October 31, 2015.
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