Profiles of Web-based Portal Users with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background Web-based portals can enhance communication between patients and providers to support IBD self-management and improve care. We aimed to identify portal use patterns of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to inform future web portal-based interventions and portal design. Methods Patients with IBD receiving care at the University of Michigan between 2012 and 2021 were identified. Meta-data from electronic logs of each patient’s most recent year of portal use were abstracted. Portal engagement was characterized in terms of intensity (ie, frequency of use); comprehensiveness (ie, number of portal functions used); and duration (ie, quarters per year of portal use). We used k-means clustering, a machine-learning technique, to identify groupings of portal users defined in terms of engagement features. Results We found 5605 patients with IBD who had accessed their portal account at least once. The average age was 41.2 years (SD 16.7), 3035 (54.2%) were female, and 2214 (39.5%) received immune-targeted therapies. We identified 3 patterns of portal engagement: (1) low intensity users (29.5%); (2) moderate intensity, comprehensive, and sustained users (63.3%); and (3) high intensity, comprehensive, sustained users (7.2%). Patients with more intense, comprehensive, and sustained use of the portal were older, female, with more comorbidities, and were more likely to receive immune-targeted therapies. Conclusion Understanding distinct patterns of portal use can inform portal-based interventions and portal design. Patient portals may be particularly helpful in delivering assistance to those with comorbidities and those receiving immune-targeted therapies—many of whom demonstrate more intense, comprehensive, and sustained portal use.