Abstract
Background:
Patients’ web-based access to their medical records is expected to promote their role and responsibility in managing
their own health and treatments and supporting shared decision-making. As of July 2020, general practices in the Netherlands
are legally obliged to provide their patients access to their electronic medical records. Web-based access provision is facilitated
and stimulated through a national support program named OPEN.
Objective:
We aimed to investigate general practice staff experiences with providing web-based access; investigate its impact
on patient consultations, administrative actions, and patient inquiries; and investigate how it affects routine general practice
workflow processes.
Methods:
In October 2021, a total of 3813 general practices in the Netherlands were invited to complete a web-based survey
that included questions regarding their experiences with the provision of web-based access to medical records and how it affects
routine general practice workflow. Responses of general practices that started providing web-based access before 2020, in 2020,
or in 2021 were analyzed to identify trends.
Results:
Of 3813 invited general practices, 523 (13.72%) completed the survey. Approximately all responding general practices
(487/523, 93.1%) indicated that they provide web-based access. Experiences with patients’ web-based access were diverse, with
36.9% (178/482) primarily positive, 8.1% (39/482) primarily negative, 42.3% (204/482) neutral, and 12.7% (61/482) could not
(yet) indicate how they experienced web-based access. Of the total, two-thirds (311/473, 65.8%) reported an increase in
e-consultations and a similar percentage (302/474, 63.7%) indicated an increase in administrative actions associated with web-based
access provision. A small proportion of the practices (≤10%) experienced a decrease in patient contacts. Earlier adoption of
web-based access was associated with a more positive attitude toward web-based access and more positive experienced effects
related to patient contacts and general practice workflow.
Conclusions:
The surveyed general practices mainly experienced providing web-based access as either neutral or mostly positive,
despite an increased number of patient contacts and administrative burden that were associated with its adoption. Periodic
monitoring of experiences is needed to understand the temporal or structural nature of both the intended and unintended effects
of patients’ web-based access to medical records for general practices and their staff.
Patients’ web-based access to their medical records is expected to promote their role and responsibility in managing
their own health and treatments and supporting shared decision-making. As of July 2020, general practices in the Netherlands
are legally obliged to provide their patients access to their electronic medical records. Web-based access provision is facilitated
and stimulated through a national support program named OPEN.
Objective:
We aimed to investigate general practice staff experiences with providing web-based access; investigate its impact
on patient consultations, administrative actions, and patient inquiries; and investigate how it affects routine general practice
workflow processes.
Methods:
In October 2021, a total of 3813 general practices in the Netherlands were invited to complete a web-based survey
that included questions regarding their experiences with the provision of web-based access to medical records and how it affects
routine general practice workflow. Responses of general practices that started providing web-based access before 2020, in 2020,
or in 2021 were analyzed to identify trends.
Results:
Of 3813 invited general practices, 523 (13.72%) completed the survey. Approximately all responding general practices
(487/523, 93.1%) indicated that they provide web-based access. Experiences with patients’ web-based access were diverse, with
36.9% (178/482) primarily positive, 8.1% (39/482) primarily negative, 42.3% (204/482) neutral, and 12.7% (61/482) could not
(yet) indicate how they experienced web-based access. Of the total, two-thirds (311/473, 65.8%) reported an increase in
e-consultations and a similar percentage (302/474, 63.7%) indicated an increase in administrative actions associated with web-based
access provision. A small proportion of the practices (≤10%) experienced a decrease in patient contacts. Earlier adoption of
web-based access was associated with a more positive attitude toward web-based access and more positive experienced effects
related to patient contacts and general practice workflow.
Conclusions:
The surveyed general practices mainly experienced providing web-based access as either neutral or mostly positive,
despite an increased number of patient contacts and administrative burden that were associated with its adoption. Periodic
monitoring of experiences is needed to understand the temporal or structural nature of both the intended and unintended effects
of patients’ web-based access to medical records for general practices and their staff.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e41832 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Keywords
- patient access to records
- electronic health record
- patient portals
- general practice
- administrative burden
- health information
- shared decision-making
- health care professionals
- Humans
- Netherlands
- General Practice
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Internet
- Electronic Health Records
- Administrative burden
- Electronic health record
- Patient access to records
- Patient portals
- Health information
- Health care professionals
- General practice
- Shared decision-making