University Health Portal: Features and Benefits

University health portals are increasingly becoming a vital component of modern healthcare, offering numerous benefits to both patients and healthcare providers. These portals provide convenient access to health information, streamline communication, and promote patient engagement. This article explores the features and benefits of university health portals, highlighting their impact on health outcomes, healthcare efficiency, and patient satisfaction.

Introduction to University Health Portals

In recent years, electronic tools that allow patients to interact with healthcare professionals have considerably increased, raising citizens' awareness of their own health. The adoption of these technologies might represent an important measure to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare services and is a key feature for the construction of a more equitable, effective, and safe health care system. Patient portals are thought to allow patients secure access to health-related information and to communicate and share information with providers.

What is a Patient Portal?

A patient portal is a web-based tool that allows you to have access to your health information 24 hours a day. A patient portal can provide different features, varying based on the system that your provider uses. These portals offer round-the-clock, easy, private, and safe access to your electronic health records.

Immuware: An Example of a University Health Portal

Immuware is the Employee Health Portal for UI Health employees, UIC campus employees, and students from the UIC health science colleges. The software application was launched on June 15, 2020. It is accessible via a quick link on the Hospital Intranet homepage, and users log in using their NetID and UI System password. Supervisors can track compliance for their employees' medical surveillance.

Benefits of University Health Portals

Patient portals offer numerous advantages, including increased patient engagement, improved healthcare outcomes, and enhanced efficiency for healthcare providers.

Enhanced Patient Engagement

Not only do patient portals offer convenience, they can also help improve healthcare by increasing engagement and giving patients the opportunity to better care for themselves and their families. Once patients are accustomed to using patient portals, they often prefer them over other methods for contacting providers, scheduling appointments, or checking on medications.

Patient portals can help you build a relationship with your healthcare provider. This can replace lost messages, long wait times, miscommunication, and even phone-tag. Instead of calling your provider's office to ask for a prescription refill or to schedule an appointment, you can do it online at your convenience.

Improved Health Outcomes

Evidence regarding health outcomes is generally favorable, and patient portals have the potential to enhance the doctor-patient relationship, improve health status awareness, and increase adherence to therapy. Some of the most effective examples refer to patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and depression, specifically when the portal is included in a shared health care pathway.

Better Monitoring of Health Status: Patient portals facilitate better monitoring of health status.
Improved Patient-Doctor Interaction: These portals enhance communication and interaction between patients and doctors.
Improved Quality of Care: Overall, patient portals contribute to improved quality of care.

Increased Healthcare Efficiency

Healthcare providers’ offices can run more efficiently with patient portals. Also, healthcare providers can stay in better contact with patients. At the same time, patients can take a more active role in managing their own health. This may mean better control over chronic diseases and overall improved health.

The portal enabled clinicians to manage stable patients, facilitating clinical and cost-effective use of specialist nurses, and improved two-way communication and more optimal use of outpatient appointments and consultant time. Portal use by patients reduced missing appointments and showed an improvement in appointment adherence after portal adoption.

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Key Features of University Health Portals

Patient portals offer a range of features designed to improve patient care and streamline healthcare processes. These features include:

Access to Health Information: Patient portals give people access to their health information whenever they need it. You will be able to see information on your health record such as results and clinicians' notes.
Secure Messaging: More advanced patient portals allow secure message exchange between health professionals and citizens. Primary care patients who sent at least one secure message or e-visit had a mean of 2.43 annual face-to-face visits before the first message and 2.47 after, with a nonsignificant difference.
Appointment Scheduling: Besides guaranteeing protected access to EMRs, patient portals allow appointment scheduling.
Prescription Refills: Automatic renewal of medical prescriptions for chronic diseases.
Bill Payment: Facilitation of payments.
Personal Health Records: Your patient portal will often link to your personal health record. This is an online record of your health information that you put together yourself. You can include and track any of your personal statistics like your blood pressure and weight.
Educational Materials: Consultation of educational material adapted to patients’ own characteristics.

UH MyChart: A Detailed Example of a Patient Portal

UH MyChart offers eCheck-in so you can complete forms and update insurance, current medications and other personal information up to 7 days before your appointment.

Security Measures

We take great care to ensure your health information is kept private and secure. Access to information is controlled through secure activation codes, personal usernames and passwords. Each person controls their password, and the account must be accessed using that password. On mobile, the account may also be accessed using face ID or fingerprint login. You can ensure that your account stays secure even if someone else has your username or password by turning on two-step verification. These notifications allow you to login to MyChart securely using a link that expires after a short time.

Available Medical Records

Please refer to the below table for medical records history:

Patient identifiers from legacy systems and core demographic information.
Discrete (e.g. ICD-10) active outpatient problem list.
Inpatient, ED and Outpatient encounters.
Visits scheduled for on or after March 4, 2023.

Important Reminders

Please note that MyChart messages should not be used for urgent situations. Please try to give your provider as much advance notice as possible. Medications that are more closely regulated by the FDA have different requirements for prescribers.

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Proxy Access

Proxy access allows another person to manage a patient’s MyChart account.

Communication Preferences

Your communication preferences can be updated at any time in your UH MyChart Account Settings, under the Communication Preferences section. After adding your mobile phone number, we’ll need to verify that we can reach you at that number. We’ll send a code to your mobile phone to complete this verification process. You can also opt in to receiving notifications from University Hospitals (UH) via text message by texting START to 65348. Texts may include updates related to your visits, UH MyChart account, one-time passcodes, billing notifications, prescription reminders and care management. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency may vary. For help, text HELP. To opt out, text STOP.

Accessing Health Information

Items that are part of your medical record include prescriptions, lab results, allergies and immunizations. These will transfer when you enroll in MyChart. You will see your results at the same time as your provider. Please give your provider time to review your results. He/she can put some of your results on hold until he/she is able to talk to you or if the information can cause harm or violate your privacy.

Mobile Access

Securely access your health information from your mobile device by downloading the MyChart mobile app.

Research Findings on Patient Portal Impact

A search of relevant articles was performed in the PubMed and Web of Science databases using the query reported in Multimedia Appendix 1. The resulting records were entered in a dedicated work sheet to be subsequently screened according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Eligible studies were primary studies reporting on the impact of patient portal adoption in relation with health outcomes, health care efficiency, and patients’ attitudes and satisfaction. Articles included were published from January 1, 2013, to October 31, 2019, and written in English, Italian, Spanish, or French. Two authors screened the articles, and each reference retrieved was screened by two researchers independently, with any disagreement finally discussed and resolved by a third researcher, if necessary. The following information was extracted from the studies: first author name, publication year, study country, study design, study population, study setting, study duration and time, health information technology, study objective, main findings according to health outcomes, health care efficiency/utilization, patient characteristics, and patient attitudes and satisfaction. The database search, after duplicate removal, identified a total of 3456 records.

Health Outcomes and Adherence

Eleven studies analyzed health outcomes and adherence, intended as a change in individual or population health, attributable to health-related interventions. Adherence is the degree to which a patient follows medical advice, especially drug compliance.

Pregnant Patients: Average BMI dropped while average blood pressure increased significantly more in the 9 months among uploaders than nonuploaders.
Chronic Disease Patients: After 9 months, uploaders had significantly larger reductions in HbA1c and BMI than nonuploaders. One subset of uploaders had low well-controlled HbA1c values before and during PGHDa upload.
Asthma Patients: Frequency of asthma flares improved in the intervention group over time by 2.0 points on a 25-point scale (P=.02). Families in the intervention group had a marginally significant improvement in symptoms during periods without flares. A nonstatistically significant improvement in quality of life in terms of daytime symptoms and functional limitations was observed in the intervention group.
Preventive Health Behaviors: Patients’ preventive health behaviors were significantly associated with portal use. The proportions of annual flu vaccination, blood pressure checks, and lipid level screening were substantially higher in portal users compared with nonusers (ORc=1.58, 1.13, and 1.50, respectively; P<.001). The average composite prevention score was significantly higher among portal users compared with nonusers (mean difference=0.22; P<.001). The proportion of colorectal cancer screening between users and nonusers was statistically significant (P<.001, OR very close to 1).
Mental Health: The overall Mental Health Recovery Measure score increased from 70.4 (SD 23.6) at baseline to 81.7 (SD 25.1) at follow-up (P=.01). Of the eight domains, seven increased from baseline to follow-up (overcoming stuckness, self-empowerment, basic functioning, overall well-being, new potentials, spirituality, and advocacy/enrichment; all P<.05.
HbA1c Levels: Overall, 28 of 50 users had a follow-up HbA1c ≤7%, whereas 22 of 50 did not (56% success rate). Only 16 of 50 nonusers achieved a follow-up HbA1c ≤7%, while 34 of 50 did not (32% success rate). Users were significantly more likely to control their HbA1c levels successfully than nonusers (McNemar test, P=.03).
Blood Pressure Control: After adjusting for age, users were more likely to achieve BPh control (HRi 1.24, 95% CI 1.06-1.45).
Substance Use: Significant reductions in the numbers of risky drinking days, which declined by 44% ([0.7-1.25]/1.25) from baseline to 6 months, and illicit drug-use days, which declined by 34% ([2.14-3.22]/3.22). Two of the three abstinence outcomes showed significant improvements (any illicit drug use and/or any drink or drug).

Healthcare Service Efficiency and Utilization

Fifteen articles described the relationship between portal use and health care service efficiency and utilization.

Clinician Management: The portal enabled clinicians to manage stable patients, facilitating clinical and cost-effective use of specialist nurses, and improved two-way communication and more optimal use of outpatient appointments and consultant time.
Work Absences: The intervention group had a marginally significant reduction in the proportion of parents missing at least 1 day of work (reduction of 47%, P=.07).
Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations: Families in the intervention group reported fewer EDb visits and hospitalizations for asthma over 6 months than the control group (3 vs 9 and 0 vs 2, respectively). Only two intervention families reported at least one ED visit (vs six control families), and no intervention families reported hospitalizations. Children in the intervention group had fewer visits with asthma specialists or primary care.
ED Visits: 80.56% (n=20,430) of patients had a single ED visit with laboratory testing, 16.04% (n=4069) had two or three ED visits, 3.16% (n=802) had four to 10 ED visits, and only 0.24% (n=60) had more than 10 ED visits.
Readmission Rates: The odds of being readmitted within 30 days for active users was 66% higher than that for nonusers, holding all other variables constant in the model.
Appointment Adherence: Fewer missed appointments and a reduced number of requests for information in the year following portal implementation. The odds of a portal user attending an appointment were 67% (CI 56%-79%) greater than for nonusers over the follow-up period.
Outpatient Visits: Primary care patients who sent at least one secure message or e-visit had a mean of 2.43 (SD 2.3) annual face-to-face visits before the first message and 2.47 (SD 2.8) after, with a nonsignificant difference (P=.45). After adjustment for a first message surge in visits, no significant visit frequency differences were observed (mean, 2.35 annual visits per patient both before and after the first message; P=.93).
Active MyChart Utilization: Active MyChart status was not associated with 90-day ED return (P=.78) or readmission (P=.51) based on univariable analysis. Similarly, during multivariable analysis controlling for age, gender, BMI, and ASAc category, active MyChart utilization was not significantly associated with 90-day ED visits (ORd 1.019, 95% CI 0.843-1.231; P=.85) or readmissions (OR 0.966, 95% CI 0.747-1.249; P=.79). Patients who sent secure messages within 90 days from surgery (2200 patients, 48% of active users) were not less likely to present to the ED (P=.63) or be readmitted (P=.59) within 90 days.
Hospitalizations and ER Visits: Significant reduction in hospitalizations and a trend toward fewer ERe visits.
HIV Screening: Increase in HIV screening rates.
Cost of Care: The effect on the cost of care was ambiguous; costs decreased by an average of €91 in the unadjusted model, but increased by €48 in the adjusted model.
Doctor Visits: For doctor visits, portal access (n=80): 3.8 (SD 3.3) and control (n=57): 3.0 (SD 3.1) (t=1.4; P=.18).
Outpatient and Inpatient Visits: Active users had more outpatient and inpatient visits and fewer ER visits. Patients without a portal account had on average fewer outpatient visits per month (0.31 vs 0.89, P<.001) and fewer inpatient visits per month (0.007 vs 0.059, P<.001), but had more ER visits per month than patients who were active with the portal (0.047 vs 0.014, P<.001).
PCP Office Visits: At the time of adoption, the quarterly PCPf office visit RRg of users to nonusers was 1.33 (95% CI 1.27-1.39; P<.001). The RRs were between 0.94 and 0.99 up to four quarters after portal adoption (P=.75, .10, .13, and .09, respectively), and it was significantly less than 1 at the seventh (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.73-0.91; P<.001) and eighth (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.70-0.90; P<.001) quarters post adoption.
No-Show Rates: The no-show rate proxies in the user group were significantly lower than in the nonuser group. RRs were between 0.60 and 0.83 for eight out of 11 quarters, and for the remaining three quarters, differences were not significant (P=.65, .29, and .44, respectively). Differences in cancellation rate proxies were not significant (P>.05).

Challenges and Considerations

Despite their potential benefits, several studies have proved underuse or inappropriate use of patient portals and their limited impact. Furthermore, the majority of studies available on this topic have focused on users’ characteristics and satisfaction, and few studies have considered the consequences on health outcomes.

Disparities in Portal Use

African American and Latino patients were significantly less likely to engage in use compared with White patients. Low-income patients with free care were significantly less likely to be users. Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were significantly less likely to be users than those with other mental health diagnoses (ORa 0.50, CI 0.47-0.53 and OR 0.75, CI 0.69-0.80, respectively).

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