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Topic

Health care provider experiences with an electronic patient portal in cancer care: A qualitative study

School of Nursing

Date & location

• Wednesday, April 16, 2025
• 2:00 P.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Olga Petrovskaya, School of Nursing, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Vera Caine, School of Nursing, UVic (Co-Supervisor)

External Examiner

• Dr. Fay Strohschein, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Deborah Rutman, School of Social Work, UVic

Abstract

Online patient portals offer individuals a secure website and/or mobile app to view their health information and appointment schedules, enter data into their record, and communicate instantly with their health care team. In November 2022, Alberta Health Services launched a new province-wide electronic health record, Connect Care (Epic), with a tethered patient portal, MyAHS Connect, across all Cancer Care Alberta sites. For this descriptive-qualitative study, I aimed to answer the following question: What are the effects of an online patient portal on the health care team’s work in the oncology setting in Alberta? The group of interest for this study was nurses, however clerical staff and medical oncologists were also recruited. From July to October 2024, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 registered nurses, 2 medical oncologists, and 1 clerk, recording and transcribing each interview. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The theoretical underpinning of this study was a technology-in-practice sociomaterial perspective, originating from actor-network theory. Three main themes were identified: the invisibility of nurses’ responsibility of supporting patient portal use, access to the portal shapes a new type of patient, and MyAHS Connect is as good as the networks of care provision in which it is embedded. This is the first study I am aware of evaluating health care provider experiences in Alberta with MyAHS Connect. This study includes recommendations on how health care providers can work at the intersection of the electronic health record and patient portal as well as suggestions for future research. Ultimately, patient access to the portal changed the ways that health care providers are working but the degree of this change was highly influenced by patient use of the portal, staff’s use of the EHR, and the greater system context.