An RCT of an Online Training for Vulnerable Patients to Use an Online Patient Portal Website

University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Chronic Disease; Electronic Health Records; Health Literacy

Treatments: Behavioral: Take-home online training; Behavioral: In-person online training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03354000

5R00HS022408-05

Details and patient eligibility

About

Online patient portals are becoming ubiquitous in the US. Previous research has documented substantial usability barriers, especially among patients with limited health literacy. This pilot randomized pilot trial had the goal of determining the effectiveness of an in-person training with a scalable online video-based training program to increase portal use among patients in a safety net healthcare setting.

Full description

The intervention in this study was a patient portal training curriculum with simple instructions and 11 how-to videos for accessing features of an online patient portal. Using a deeply participatory approach, this curriculum was created in consultation with a patient advisory board from the San Francisco Health Network, a local Medicaid health plan. From June until October 2016, 93 patients with 1 or more chronic diseases were randomized to receive either: 1) an in-person tutorial with a trained research assistant versus 2) a link to view the videos on their own. The primary outcome was portal log-in (yes/no) between 3 and 6 months post-training, assessed through a portal administrative dashboard within the EHR. Secondary outcome included baseline and follow-up survey measures on participants' perceptions of the portal use and their care, as well as views of the web-based lessons.

Enrollment: 93 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 100 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• English-speaking as portal is only available in English
• diagnosed with at least one chronic condition

Exclusion criteria

• cognitive impairment
• visual impairment
• severe mental health conditions
• any circumstances that would make participation in the study difficult
• no previous email use
• self-reported usage of MYSFHEALTH

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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93 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Take-home online training

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants received a link to access the online tutorial videos on their own.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Take-home online training

In-person online training

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants received an in-person tutorial of how to use the patient portal website with a trained research assistant.

Treatment:

Behavioral: In-person online training