An RCT of an Online Training for Vulnerable Patients to Use an Online Patient Portal Website

NCT03354000 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 5R00HS022408-05
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 93
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Online patient portals are becoming ubiquitous in the US. Previous research has documented substantial usability barriers, especially among patients with limited health literacy. This pilot randomized pilot trial had the goal of determining the effectiveness of an in-person training with a scalable online video-based training program to increase portal use among patients in a safety net healthcare setting.

Conditions

Electronic Health Records; Chronic Disease; Health Literacy

Keywords

Patient Portal; Healthcare disparities; Safety net healthcare system

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Portal log-ins

  Logging into the portal website in the 3-6 months post-training (yes/no)

  3-6 months post-training

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• eHealth Literacy

  3-6 months post-training

• Portal sign-up

  3-6 months post-training

• Digital literacy skills

  3-6 months post-training

Study Arms (2)

Take-home online training

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Participants received a link to access the online tutorial videos on their own.

Behavioral: Take-home online training

In-person online training

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants received an in-person tutorial of how to use the patient portal website with a trained research assistant.

Behavioral: In-person online training

Interventions

Take-home online training BEHAVIORAL

We randomized patients to receive a link to access the online tutorial on their own. Participants in the take-home arm were given a paper handout with a link to the training materials and an outline of the steps for accessing the training curriculum.

Take-home online training

In-person online training BEHAVIORAL

For participants randomized to the in-person training arm, a trained research assistant prompted participants to log into the learning platform and guided them in accessing the training materials for portal features that were of interest to them. The staff member provided further explanation or clarification if participants had questions about the training material.

In-person online training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 100 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• English-speaking as portal is only available in English
• diagnosed with at least one chronic condition

You may not qualify if:

• cognitive impairment
• visual impairment
• severe mental health conditions
• any circumstances that would make participation in the study difficult
• no previous email use
• self-reported usage of MYSFHEALTH

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of California, San Francisco: lead

Related Publications (1)

• Norman CD, Skinner HA. eHEALS: The eHealth Literacy Scale. J Med Internet Res. 2006 Nov 14;8(4):e27. doi: 10.2196/jmir.8.4.e27.

  PMID: 17213046 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Published paper summarizing trial findings - A Randomized Trial to Train Vulnerable Primary Care Patients to Use a Patient Portal

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Chronic Disease

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Courtney Lyles, PhD

  University of California, San Francisco

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 9, 2017
• First Posted: November 27, 2017
• Study Start: August 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: July 31, 2017
• Study Completion: July 31, 2018
• Last Updated: April 19, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-04