Literature Review
The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and Efficiencies: Special Focus on Patient Portals in Diabetes Management

Patient portals come in handy in seeking to promote the access that patents have to their personal healthcare data. Of relevance on this front could be patient lab results, doctor notes, prescriptions, billing, the relevant information regarding the next appointment, etc. It is also important to note that in some instances, patient portals do permit patients to actively communicate with their healthcare providers. Thus, from a general perspective, patient portals could be described as online tools designed to promote the health and wellbeing of patients by offering patients access to their personal health information (Sun, Korytkowski, Sereike, Saul, Li, and Burke, 2018). In essence, there is need for a reliable internet connection for patent portals to function as intended. At present, patient portals continue to be widely utilized by healthcare providers. In this case, patents are permitted to set up an account which is secured using a password so as to ensure that only the patient in this case has access to their health information.

According to, Dendere, Sade, Burton-Jones, Sllivan, Staib, and Janda (2019), one of the most effective ways of improving patient satisfaction as well as health outcomes is via the constant engagement of the said patients in the course of healthcare delivery. In that regard, therefore, the authors point out that “patient portals may enhance patient engagement by enabling patients to access their electronic medical records (EMRs) and facilitating secure patient-provider communication” (Dendere, Sade, Burton-Jones, Sllivan, Staib, and Janda, 2019, p. 61).

Owing to the increased implementation of patent portals and the benefits of the same on various fronts, as has been highlighted in various research studies, it would be prudent to evaluate the utilization of patient portals in the management of diabetes. Sun, Korytkowski, Sereike, Saul, Li, and Burke (2018) observe that there is need for constant collaborative efforts between providers and diabetes patients in as far as the effective management of diabetes and other chronic diseases is concerned. However, the authors regret that as presently structured, most healthcare systems are not fully supportive of the various needs of patients with chronic conditions. It is on the basis of this reality that healthcare institutions ought to be called upon to further embrace patient portals which, as has been demonstrated in this text, could come in handy in diabetes management.

Of all chronic diseases, diabetes happens to be the most debilitating. It that regard, therefore, it is important to note that in seeking to minimize the risks associated with diabetes, the relevance of the effective management of the same cannot be overstated. Some of the risks of poor management of this particular chronic disease include, but they are not limited to kidney failure and health disease. Advances in healthcare in recent times have indicated that patent engagement as well as support are two of the most important considerations when it comes to the effective management of diabetes. According to Jackson, DesRoaches, Frosch, Peacock, Oster, and Elmore (2018), patient portals further expand the possibilities...…This is more so the case given that in their study seeking to establish the opinion of diabetes care providers on patient portals, Ronda, Dijkhorst-Oei, Vos, and Rutten (2018) found out that “providers are positive about patients web portals but still not recommend or encourage the use to all patients” (80).

There is also the issue of usability. Amante, Hogan, Pagoto, and English (2014) brand this phenomenon as “negative patient experiences using portals” (115). If the patient portal is difficult to navigate, patients are not likely to use of the portal in the long-term. Thus, the interface ought to be made as easy to navigate as is possible so as to promote constant patient-portal interactions.

In seeking to promote long-term adherence – which is one of the barriers to the effective utilization of patient portals that have been identified in this text – there may be need to ensure that patient portals contain personalized content. Further, the portal could be established in such a way that it permits regular follow-up that is largely automatic. The relevance of promoting the usability of the portal cannot also be overstated. This is particularly the case when it comes to ensuring that users find it easy to enter data and navigate the portal.

Measures may also have to be put in place to ensure that the features of the patient portal offers are actively utilized by patients. This could be done by way of educating patients, from time to time, on specific portal functionalities. An online tutorial could come in handy in this endeavor.…