Data on the activation and utilization of an electronic health record patient portal in an adult inpatient population at an academic medical center

• Published in: Data in brief Vol. 35; p. 106806
• Main Authors: Allard, Corey T., Krasowski, Matthew D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01-04-2021; Elsevier
• Subjects: Consumer health informatics; Data; Diagnostic imaging; Electronic health records; Medical informatics; Minority groups; Patient portals; Proxy; User-computer interface; Proxy; User-computer interface; Diagnostic imaging; Patient portals; Electronic health records; Minority groups; Consumer health informatics; Medical informatics
• ISSN: 2352-3409; 2352-3409
• DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2021.106806

Electronic health record patient portals allow patients to access their own health data online and interact with the healthcare team. Many studies have focused on use of patient portals in the outpatient setting. Relatively less is known about use of patient portals for hospitalized patients. The data in this article include analysis of patient portal activation and utilization for adults hospitalized in 2018 at an academic medical center in a Midwestern state in the United States. Activation was assessed by percentage of patients who had activated their patient portal by the time of data review. Utilization of the patient portal was determined by whether patients or their legal proxies accessed one or more reports from diagnostic testing ordered during inpatient encounter(s) in 2018. The data include 826,843 diagnostic tests on 40,640 unique patients. Patient characteristics include sex, age, whether outpatient diagnostic tests were also performed in 2018, preferred language (English or non-English), health insurance status (private, public, or uninsured), self-declared race (White or non-White), and whether there was a legal proxy for the patient. Association of these covariates with patient portal activation and utilization were analyzed.
Value of the Data•The data add to the existing limited published data on utilization of patient portals in the adult inpatient setting.•Variations in portal usage by patient demographics provides opportunity for reducing health disparities.•The data provides a baseline rate of portal usage prior to implementation of the federal mandate of the Cures Act in the United States.•The data provide information for 826,843 diagnostic tests on 40,640 unique patients.