Health Literacy, Education Levels, and Patient Portal Usage During Hospitalizations

Patient portal adoption has rapidly increased, and portal usage has been associated with patients' sociodemographics, health literacy, and education. Research on patient portals has primarily focused on the outpatient setting. We explored whether health literacy and education were associated with portal usage in an inpatient population. Among 60,159 admissions in 2012-2013, 23.3% of patients reported limited health literacy; 50.4% reported some post-secondary education; 34.4% were registered for the portal; and 23.4% of registered patients used the portal during hospitalization. Probability of registration and inpatient portal use increased with educational attainment. Health literacy was associated with registration but not inpatient use. Among admissions with inpatient use, educational attainment was associated with viewing health record data, and health literacy was associated use of appointment and health education tools. The inpatient setting may provide an opportunity to overcome barriers to patient portal adoption and reduce disparities in use of health information technologies.