Patient Portal for Young People and Children with Hydrocephalus: Scoping Review & Stakeholder Consultation

Abstract

The new Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) Hospital will be completely digital with an electronic health record (EHR) and integrated patient portal procured to date. Patient portals provide direct access for health service users to their personal health information held within EHRs at healthcare organisations. Additional functionalities offered by some patient portals include secure messaging with healthcare professionals, prescription renewals and appointment scheduling. The Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) neurosurgical service at CHI at Temple Street provide care for children and young people with hydrocephalus. A patient portal would be highly advantageous to these children, their parents, the healthcare professionals at both CHI and hospitals in regional locations as well as administrators and management. While this project explored the requirements for a patient portal at CHI for children and young people with hydrocephalus, it also identified key considerations for a patient portal nationally and identified the key requirements for interoperability between patient portals and EHRs. Following a review of the international literature, key facilitators and challenges to the interoperability of patient portals with EHRs were identified.