Outpatient portal use in prenatal care: differential use by race, risk, and area social determinants of health

Abstract

To report the relationship of outpatient portal (OPP) use with clinical risk, area social determinants of health (SDoH), and race/ethnicity among pregnant women. Regression models predicting overall and individual portal feature use (main effects and interactions) based on key variables were specified using log files and clinical data. Overall OPP use among non-Hispanic Black women or patients who lived in lower SDoH neighborhoods were significantly less. High-risk pregnancy patients were likely to use the OPP more than those with normal-risk pregnancy. We found similar associations with individual OPP features, like Visit (scheduling) and My Record (test results). We also found significant interactive associations between race/ethnicity, clinical risk, and SDoH. Non-Hispanic Black women and those living in lower SDoH areas used OPP less than non-Hispanic White women from similar or affluent areas. More research must be conducted to learn of OPP use implications for pregnant women with specific clinical diagnoses.

Keywords: health information technology; log files; patient portals; prenatal care; social determinants of health.