Environmental Scan of Canadian Sources to Determine Current National Trends in the Use of Inpatient Portals in the Acute Care Setting
Date
2024
Authors
Elliott, Sean
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Abstract
Objectives
The objective of this study was to develop a better understanding of the readiness of Canadian healthcare organizations to implement inpatient portals. Research questions included: where in Canada inpatient portals had been implemented? what Canadian focused research has been done on patient portals? what standards, guidelines and legislation for inpatient portals have been created? what Canadian information about inpatient portals can be mapped by the Clinical Adoption Framework?
Methods
An environmental scan of Canadian health authorities, health organizations, government agencies, news organizations, available grey sources, and academic literature was undertaken. This included informal, undirected, conditional and formal methods for scanning for information. Data was summarized and aggregated by both province/territory and health authorities.
Results
This research identified implementations of patient portals and electronic health records that have the potential to include inpatient usage within British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario due to available technology, but there is a lack of clarity on what inpatient usage is in place. There is a lack of research on Canadian implementations of inpatient portals and Canadian viewpoints on the use of inpatient portals. In addition, information on standards, guidelines, and legislation for the use of inpatient portals in Canada is lacking. Only an Alberta Health Virtual Care Action Plan, Ontario standards and implementation guidelines and a Health Canada report with some recommendations on improving portal usage were found. However, These reports were focused on outpatient use. Due to the lack of information, little could be mapped to the Clinical Adoption (CA) framework. Most information described the benefits of use for patients and providers as reported by the organizations delivering the technology and was mostly focused on outpatient usage. Overall, there appears to be very little evidence of readiness within Canadian institutions to adopt inpatient portals.
Conclusion
Research has identified that there are benefits of inpatient portal usage. However, more studies are needed to understand the use of inpatient portals from the perspective of patients, providers, and organizations in Canada. Where portals are available, better dissemination of information and education is needed. At a national level, improved guidelines, standards, and legislation could be beneficial.
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Keywords
patient portals, inpatient portals, patient access to records, inpatients, hospitals