There’s been a crucial shift toward active, ongoing self-management of health and wellness among patients, according to the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Based on data from ASTP/ONC, patient portal use has more than doubled since the pre-pandemic rate of 15% in 2019, according to a new report – and more than one-third of individuals (34%) were frequent portal users, accessing their electronic health records six or more times in the past year.
WHY IT MATTERS
More than three-quarters of individuals nationwide, 77%, were offered online access to their health information in 2024, up from 73% in 2022, according to the latest Health Information National Trends Survey, HINTS 7, released in March.
The National Cancer Institute’s nationally representative annual survey is focused on understanding public access to cancer information, and researchers from ASTP/ONC analyze it regularly to understand the access and use of health information by individuals with cancer, survivors and others.
“Our findings also show that individuals are accessing their records online more frequently,” Chelsea Richwine, an ASTP/ONC researcher, wrote July 2 in the first HealthITbuzz blog of a new series called Digital Dividends, which she said will discuss healthcare delivery innovations made possible by HHS’s digitization efforts going forward.
Richwine said the measured increases in patients’ and caregivers’ online access to electronic health information not only show that more patients are empowered “to make informed decisions about their health and care,” but that the Cures Act played a pivotal role in increasing that access by requiring health IT developers to implement secure, standards-based APIs.
“Greater online access and use may be due in part to the implementation of ASTP/ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule requirements,” she said, noting the increase in the use of different portal features by users over time.
The most common uses in 2024 were viewing laboratory test results, 90%, viewing clinical notes, 80%, messaging providers, 79% and scheduling appointments, 77%, according to the blog.
ASTP/ONC’s analysis also showed higher engagement from individuals managing chronic conditions or recent cancer diagnoses, with 69% and 76%, respectively, accessing EHI in the past year, Richwine said.
Overall, 34% of HINTS survey respondents in 2024 were frequent portal users, accessing their records six or more times in the past year – “more than double the pre-pandemic rate in 2019 (15%),” she added.
Of note, caregiver or proxy access to patient portals also more than doubled in the past four years, from 24% in 2020 to 51% in 2024.
Richwine and others, who studied the progress of health IT adoption using additional sources, such as the American Hospital Association Annual Survey IT Supplement (2008-2023) and Surescripts’ e-prescribing use data for the same timeframe, said “Federal incentives have contributed to the widespread adoption of EHRs and broad digitization in healthcare, while efforts to promote interoperability have encouraged collaboration across healthcare entities” in their October report.
“Since 2009, there has been a 10-fold increase in EHRs use among hospitals and a five-fold increase among physicians,” they said in the report’s abstract.
Despite the advancements, persistent disparities in portal activation rates still need to be addressed with continued effort to “increase and enhance access.”
NCI’s 2024 survey was conducted between March and September last year, yielding 7,278 completed surveys with a response rate of 27.3%, according to the methodology.
THE LARGER TREND
Previously, ASTP/ONC researchers looked at nearly 10,000 survey responses from HINTS 5 Cycle 4 and HINTS 6 to assess the impacts of health communication, finding that new cancer patients check EHRs twice as often. Specifically, the rates of EHR access were higher among individuals with a recent cancer diagnosis compared with cancer survivors and those who never had cancer.
In the Trump FY2026 budget proposal, NCI faced a nearly 38% decrease in funding.
“ASCO is alarmed about significant proposed funding cuts to the [National Institutes of Health] and NCI,” Dr. Clifford Hudis, the chief executive officer of the Association for Clinical Oncology, said in a statement May 30. “If implemented, these cuts would be devastating to the pace and progress of cancer research in America.”
ON THE RECORD
“Overcoming barriers to access is needed to address persistent differences in portal activation rates, which may reflect a broader digital divide in patient access to their electronic health information,” said Richwine in the blog.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
