Patients Gain Slow Control Over Their Digital Patient Portals

Earlier this year, NYU Langone Health rolled out the option for patients to delay viewing test results in their portal. On its purple-branded EPIC MyChart portal, the health system informs patients that the default setting is to see test results as soon as they are available. However, the new option allows them to delay test result publication until their care team has reviewed the results. This feature reflects an understanding of how patients and providers communicate—often through the portal, where care teams can share feedback and high-level summaries of test results. This context can be particularly valuable for patients who may not have a follow-up appointment scheduled for a few weeks after their testing, helping them feel more reassured and understanding of their results in the meantime.

However, it can take providers some time to review results and provide commentary. For some patients, seeing test results without the added context can confuse or alarm them, especially if they misinterpret information. A lab result that appears outside of the normal range may be clinically insignificant or needs to be understood alongside other results or the member’s individual health. Also, considering the widespread popularity of AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, users may turn to these resources to help interpret their results; however, these tools lack access to a patient’s full medical history and may produce inaccurate or misleading interpretations.

The health system’s introduction of test result preferences puts the patient in control and acknowledges that not all patients may want the same digital experience. Those who prefer immediate access and feel comfortable parsing through test results on their own can continue to do so. On the other hand, those who are prone to health anxiety or have limited health literacy may benefit from opting into the new option. Of note, even for patients who choose to wait for test results, NYU Langone Health disclaims that results will be delayed up to four days only.

Though seemingly a minor update to a patient portal, this new feature takes on greater significance when we consider the current landscape of health system portals. Corporate Insight’s most recent patient survey (subscription required) finds that viewing test and lab results is the main reason users log in to their health system’s patient portal. We also asked respondents which activities they performed on their portal in the last six months, and viewing test results also emerged as the most common task. This points to how central test results are to the digital patient experience, and why thoughtful features, like test result preferences, matter.

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