Adolescents’ experiences of using patient portals in mental health care - a qualitative study

Background Adolescents in mental health care are gradually expected to assume greater responsibility for their health care. Patient portals may aid adolescents in this process by providing opportunities for treatment management and easier access to clinical information from their electronic health record (EHR). However, there is limited knowledge of how adolescents in mental health care experience using patient portals. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore adolescents´ experiences of using patient portals in mental health care. Methods A qualitative study with individual semi-structured interviews with 17 persons who had experiences from using patient portals in child and adolescent specialist mental health care. The main questions concerned how they experienced using a patient portal, how they experienced using different features in the patient portal, and how access had affected their relationship with their healthcare provider. Results The data were categorised into three themes: “A tool to assume responsibility”, “To be in control” and “A better understanding vs. negative reactions”. The informants talked about how they had used the patient portal to aid treatment management and that this had helped in their transition into adult care. The feature in the patient portal that the informants talked most about was the access to clinical notes written by healthcare providers. Reading the notes was said to give the informants a better understanding of their condition and helped them to track progress. Still, it could also cause distress and divert attention from their daily activities. Conclusion The informants´ experiences with using a patient portal in child and adolescent mental health care varied from managing treatment and getting a better understanding of their situation, to causing distress and challenging the trust in their healthcare providers.