Patients Rattled By Electronic Lab Results
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
Nearly half of patients with access to online lab results report understanding them is difficult, a fact that could hinder the integration of patient portals.
Health IT Outcomes reported last fall on a Kaiser Permanente study which found publishing lab results through a secure online portal reduced patient inquiries. Quick, online results led to positive patient reactions, while delaying the process led to phone calls from irritated patients.
Despite the potential for connecting patients to their lab work and information, a study published by the Journal of Medical Internet Research found convenience isn’t everything. According to study author Brian Zikmund-Fisher, associate professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, online test results are basically useless if they are difficult for patients to understand.
For the study, over 1,800 patients ages 40-70 were asked to take an online test and answer as if they had Type 2 diabetes. They were shown the results of a blood test including A1c blood sugar levels and also tested on their health literacy and numeracy skills, writes iHealth Beat.
EHR Intelligence reports, “Seventy-seven percent of patients who scored highly on the literacy tests were also able to identify hemoglobin A1C levels that were out of range. Just 38 percent of patients who scored on the lower end of the literacy tests could do the same, illustrating a significant difference in how patients are able to digest their own information.”
Also, patients that scored higher on the health literacy test were more likely to consider how high the test result levels were when deciding to call a doctor.
Fisher said, "We can spend all the money we want making sure that patients have access to their test results, but it won’t matter if they don't know what to do with them." He recommended designing ways to present test results that are more intuitive for patients, which he said could help improve health outcomes.”
“Limited health literacy and numeracy skills are significant barriers to basic use of laboratory test result data as currently presented in some EHR portals,” the study concluded.