Womens Experiences of Accessing and Using Patient Portals Across Health Settings and Implications for Mental Health Care: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Patient portals are online tools that enhance patients access to various aspects of their health care, including provider communication, medication information, and lab results. As portals continue to be integrated into health systems, it is imperative to understand the experiences of various groups who utilize their functions. Womens experiences of using patient portals have been scantly explored in the literature, including their perceptions about use for mental health care. The purpose of this study was to explore womens experiences of accessing and using a variety of patient portals, including their perceptions of usefulness for mental health care. A qualitative descriptive methodology was used to explore womens experiences of accessing and using patient portals across Canada. Purposive sampling was used to recruit ten women, who completed semi-structured, one-to-one interviews between April-June 2025. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. Each woman had used at least one patient portal for their health care at the time of their interview. Four main themes emerged from the data, including: (1) the health care lived experience, (2) individual autonomy, (3) provider partnership, and (4) portal improvement. The interrelated themes contain narrative descriptions of individual experiences of accessing and using patient portals, and implications for using portals for womens mental health care. These results demonstrate a variety of womens experiences. Patient portals were found to impact their lived experiences with health care, enhance individual autonomy, and foster partnerships with their health care providers. The women also suggested various areas of improvement in portal design elements, features, and privacy functions. Future research should focus on evaluating the design of new portals to ensure they meet the needs of the population they serve. Author SummaryA patient portal is an example of a digital tool that is being integrated into various health organizations to supplement in-person care. Depending on the design and the complexity of the portal, patients may be able to complete online prescription renewals, access medication schedules, virtually communicate with their providers, and review their clinical notes. However, as digital tools continue to be produced and adapted within health settings, it is crucial to understand how they can best serve different populations. In this study, we explored womens experiences with using patient portals for their health care in Canada. We also aimed to understand womens perspectives on how patient portal use can be optimized for mental health care. We performed virtual interviews with 10 women who had used at least one patient portal for their health care, and gained their perspectives on accessibility, useful features, and how using a patient portal impacted their experiences of receiving health care. The women discussed how portal use improved their health care experiences and they suggested a variety of features to support mental health care as patient portal designs continue to be adapted to different settings.