Caregiver Perspectives on Electronic Portal Use in Integrated Primary Care (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Pediatric patient care portals through electronic health records (EHR) provide opportunities to enhance patient care. However, challenges exist for making portals usable and few studies have examined qualitative experiences of caregivers when using Integrated Primary Care (IPC) services for their children. OBJECTIVE To qualitatively examine barriers and facilitators to using electronic patient portals in IBH care. METHODS Data were collected from seven caregivers of pediatric patients (0-7 years old) during focus groups. Interview data were analyzed qualitatively and coded by an interdisciplinary group. An iterative approach identified overarching themes within the CFIR domains: Outer Setting, Inner Setting, and Characteristics of Individuals. RESULTS Overall, caregivers found the portal beneficial. Six themes emerged during the thematic analysis. Outer setting themes included: “lags and barriers to care” and “connections with outside providers.” Inner setting themes included: “putting the human in human-centered design” and “virtual access to information.” Characteristics of Individual themes included “flexibility” and “personalization.” CONCLUSIONS The current study sheds light on caregiver perceptions of electronic portal use. The patient portal is an effective and well-received tool for patients with developmental delays and families accessing behavioral health information. Future targets for improvement include: personalization, equitable access, and reach beyond single institutions.