Social disparities in internet patient portal use in diabetes: evidence that the digital divide extends beyond access

The authors investigated use of the internet-based patient portal, kp.org, among a well-characterized population of adults with diabetes in Northern California. Among 14 102 diverse patients, 5671 (40%) requested a password for the patient portal. Of these, 4311 (76%) activated their accounts, and 3922 (69%), logged on to the patient portal one or more times; 2990 (53%) participants viewed laboratory results, 2132 (38%) requested medication refills, 2093 (37%) sent email messages, and 835 (15%) made medical appointments. After adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, immigration status, educational attainment, and employment status, compared to non-Hispanic Caucasians, AfricaneAmericans and Latinos had higher odds of never logging on (OR 2.6 (2.3 to 2.9); OR 2.3

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2011
• Where: JAMIA
• Authors: Urmimala Sarkar, Andrew J. Karter, Jennifer Y. Liu, Nancy E. Adler, Robert Nguyen, Andrea López, Dean Schillinger
• Keywords: Algorithms, Educational Attainment, JAMIA 2011, Medical Appointments, Patient Portal