Patient discourses on real-time access to test results via hospital portals: a discourse analysis of semistructured interviews with Dutch patients
Objective Real-time access to test results on patient portals can have advantages and disadvantages for patients. It confronts patients with a complicated decision, namely whether to consult results before the medical consultation. To gain a deep understanding of patients’ decision-making processes, we unravelled three discourses about real-time access to test results, each of which articulates a different set of values, assumptions and arguments. Our research question was what patient discourses on real-time access to test results can be distinguished? Design We conducted discourse analysis on 28 semistructured interviews. Setting Interviews were conducted with patients who had (no) experience with real-time access to test results. Our participants were treated in different hospitals, and therefore, used different portals since Dutch hospitals can choose from suppliers for their patient portals. Participants Patients with experience (n=15) and without experience (n=13) of real-time ac
