Patient Portal use in the ED paves Path forward for Health IT Care Gaps

Data indicating real-time patient portal use in the emergency department is leading some experts to consider how ED clinicians can use the technology to bridge health IT gaps for traditionally underserved populations.The study from UT Southwestern was published in JAMA Network Open and showed that patients are, in fact, using the patient portal during an ED visit. In particular, patients are using the tool to look at their lab results or read clinician notes.“Patient portals such as Epic’s MyChart have grown in popularity in recent years, but they are still often seen as a tool for ambulatory chronic disease management,” Robert Turer, MD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine at UT Southwestern and the study’s corresponding author, said in a statement.