Effect of patient portals on perception of care quality, general health, and mental health: An exploratory analysis

This study analyzes the relationship between patients’ understanding of online medical records and their perception of care quality. It also explores the mediating role of patients’ general health perception and mental health and the moderating role of age in this relationship. The study develops and tests an exploratory conceptual model by analyzing the 2020 US-based Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. We checked the survey for multicollinearity and common method bias and adjusted for family-wise error. Using models 6 and 59 of the Hayes PROCESS macros, the study articulates a sequential mediation and a parallel moderated mediation model to capture the intended relationships. Patients’ understanding of online medical records had a significant positive association with the perception of care quality (Direct: ß=0.17; Indirect: ß=0.12). Additionally, the study captured the significant effect of age and perception of general health (self-health) on the perception of care quality. We also reported significant associations between mental health and general health perception (ß=0.26). These findings suggest that the patient portals' contents should be designed in a way to be easily understood by patients from various backgrounds to improve the overall care experience.