Acceptance of a patient portal: Analysis of an Italian regional public system

Abstract

BackgroundPatient portals allow patients to access their health information and interact with their healthcare system. While their use is still limited, this article explores the behavioral intention to use a patient portal implemented by a public regional authority in Italy. The authors also investigate the role of sociodemographic moderators - age, gender, education, and occupation - on the intention to use the portal.MethodsWhile most of the literature on patient portals is focused on small sets of respondents or is verticalized on specific diseases, this paper describes the results of a survey sent to 34,256 users registered on the patient portal. Of these, 15,102 users answered the questionnaire. The survey explored the acceptance of the patient portal through the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model (UTAUT2). Descriptive and SEM analyses were also conducted.ResultsThe model has good explanatory power for the behavioral intention to use a patient portal. One construct of the UTAUT2 model showed insignificant effects on the intention to use. The results indicate that the impact of the constructs affecting the intention to use the patient portal is significantly moderated by individuals' sociodemographic characteristics.ConclusionsThe analysis results confirm a good acceptance of patient portals provided by public authorities. This supports the idea that public institutions can also develop innovative tools. The results confirm the desirability of these tools among citizens. The results have important policy implications for public health investments.

Keywords: UTAUT2; e-health; health digitalization; patient portal; public health; technology acceptance.