Consumers’ Patient Portal Preferences and Health Literacy: A Survey Using Crowdsourcing

BACKGROUND eHealth apps have the potential to meet the information needs of patient populations and improve health literacy rates. However, little work has been done to document perceived usability of portals and health literacy of specific topics. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to establish a baseline of lung cancer health literacy and perceived portal usability. METHODS A survey based on previously validated instruments was used to assess a baseline of patient portal usability and health literacy within the domain of lung cancer. The survey was distributed via Amazon's Mechanical Turk to 500 participants. RESULTS Our results show differences in preferences and literacy by demographic cohorts, with a trend of chronically ill patients having a more positive reception of patient portals and a higher health literacy rate of lung cancer knowledge (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS This article provides a baseline of usability needs and health literacy that suggests that chronically ill patients have a greater preference for patient portals and higher level of health literacy within the domain of lung cancer.