Patient Portal Market

Market Overview

The patient portal market size was valued at USD 2.41 billion in 2021, and it is anticipated to reach USD 11.74 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 19.23%. Factors such as ease of accessing patient information through smartphones and wearables, significantly drives the patient portal market demand by 2030.

Patient portals are apps that provide direct, secure access to patients' EHRs around-the-clock, seven days a week. They can view medication histories, laboratory results, and discharge summaries with portals. Patients can also do many things, like send secure messages to their doctors, ask for refills on prescriptions, and set up appointments. Patient portals can increase patient engagement in their care and raise the standard of care each person receives.

Significant benefits of patient portals include a patient-centered focus, time-saving software, optimized workflow, reduced possible errors, improved clinical outcomes, and in-app advertising. Patient portals save the time of physicians and patients by providing answers to frequently asked questions. They also benefit the medical staff by allowing them to deal with secondary tasks as primary ones become more automated. They reduce errors, and physicians can rely on them to make more accurate diagnoses and avoid misunderstandings. Patients start following doctors' orders more responsibly, which results in better clinical outcomes.

Market Dynamics

Patient Portal Market Drivers

Ease of Accessing Patient Information through Smartphones and Wearables

In recent years, several methods have emerged for accessing patient portals. The most popular way to access a patient portal is through a computer, but some users use smartphones to access their portals. The US federal regulations that were intended to make it simpler for patients and their caregivers to share, access, and use electronic health information were completed by the ONC in May 2020. By adopting secure, industry-recognized Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), specific licensed health IT developers must comply with the 21st Century Cures Act. This act mandates that users be able to access and manage their medical records through a smartphone health app of their choice.

Americans also reported greater use of mobile health apps for managing their health and making healthcare decisions. Over 80% of people in the US who said they had used an app in the previous year stated they had a mobile health app on their smartphone or tablet. In 2021, roughly 7 in 10 people who had health apps stated they used them to track the progress of health-related goals, and roughly half said they used apps to facilitate discussions with their healthcare providers and make treatment decisions. In the end, ONC hopes these factors will make it easier for patients to access and use their health information across patient portals from different healthcare providers, which will help the market grow.

Growing Patient Engagement and Optimization of Expenses for Healthcare Providers

The growing amount of data in the healthcare industry has made the adoption of big data techniques to improve the quality of healthcare delivery inevitable. Recently, the number of data sources in the healthcare industry has increased due to the broad usage of mobile and wearable sensor technologies, which have flooded the industry with vast amounts of data. Therefore, it will become challenging to perform healthcare data analysis based on traditional methods that must be fit for handling a high volume of diversified medical data.

Healthcare organizations are building their IT infrastructure to be more flexible and scalable to meet the growing data demand. EHRs, EMRs, PHRs, Medical Practice Management Software (MPM), and many other health data components collectively have the potential to store data, improve quality and service efficiency, reduce the cost of healthcare, and reduce medical errors. As a result, patient portals can be beneficial for storing, using, and accessing healthcare data.

Patient Portal Market Restraint

Security and Privacy Risks with Patient Portals 

Security and privacy issues pose significant challenges to the use of patient portals because the authentication of users is a challenge. Security issues regarding patient confidentiality, authorization issues, identity authentication, scalability, availability, and reliability are of the most significant concern. In addition, patient portal websites are hosted on the internet, exposing them to different vulnerabilities and threats. Insurance for protecting sensitive information from hacking activities is needed. These portals are prone to attacks because they contain large volumes of patient-specific information. Regarding privacy, parents of minors can be in a dilemma regarding the information. They should have access without signed authorization from the minor, thus hampering the patient portal market's growth.

Patient Portal Market Opportunities

Integration of AI in Patient Portal Software

The adoption of AI is already widespread in various essential areas related to clinical care. One of these areas includes using chatbots or bots in patient portals. Concerning these patient portals, bots can significantly impact several functions that serve the patient experience and simplify mundane processes for providers. Bots can learn from interactions and understand natural language patterns, which will continue to increase the demand for bots.

Additionally, tracking the patient portal inbox is crucial for medical providers as healthcare shifts toward remote patient-provider communication. The ability to manage one's inbox, recognize urgent patient inquiries, and maintain a schedule for responding to patient messages are all necessary for providers. AI and machine learning tools can help sort patient portal messages that pose high-risk inquiries and push them to the top of the inbox. More providers are using patient engagement tools, such as patient portals, that leverage AI to drive a personalized and convenient healthcare experience. As health care becomes more digital, AI and other related technologies will become more critical.

Regional Analysis

By region, the global patient portal market share is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

North America Dominates the Global Market

North America is the most significant shareholder in the global patient portal market and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 13.61% during the forecast period. North America dominates the global patient portal market owing to a rise in demand for improved efficiency and easy access to the portal. The demand for patient portals is growing due to the region's rapid digitalization of the healthcare sector. Many well-known companies in this area, especially in the US, have also helped this area dominate the market. Both the US and Canada have established mandates for encouraging the use of EHRs. Governments in the US established incentive programs to encourage the use of EHRs, whereas, in Canada, baseline EHR records were required of all healthcare professionals. These projects made it easier for people in both countries to use EHRs and for more healthcare providers to use patient portals.

Europe is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.83% over the forecast period. Major factors that drive the market across this region include the growing prevalence of chronic diseases, an increase in the patient population, mounting healthcare data, the growing healthcare IT sector, and the rise in the adoption of EHRs and telehealth services. Several countries have implemented patient portals in various healthcare settings. In 2016, the proportion of primary care practices using an EHR reached about 80% in 15 European countries. Patient portals are being used increasingly in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, acute care centers, and other healthcare facilities, which adds to the growing demand.

Asia-Pacific is likely the fastest-growing region in the global patient portal market compared with other regions during the forecast period. Significant technological advances in healthcare services through mobile-based technologies, web-based patient diaries, wearable technologies, and other digital approaches are expected to increase the overall size of the patient portal market in this region. More people in this region have been utilizing telehealth services like teleconsultation, telemedicine, and telemonitoring since COVID-19. This increase in telehealth use has led healthcare providers and patients to use patient portals more.

Latin America and the Middle East and Africa accounted for the lowest shares of the global patient portal market. These regions are expected to witness slow growth due to the need for more awareness regarding healthcare IT services. Furthermore, a smaller number of players offering patient portals, EHRs, and other healthcare IT services has contributed to its lower share. However, the region's healthcare IT sector will observe constant growth due to the significant shift toward using smartphones and wearables for medical purposes and the continuous support by governmental authorities for advancing healthcare IT.

Segmental Analysis

The global patient portal market is segmented by product, delivery mode, and end-user.

By Product Analysis

By product, the global market is divided into integrated and standalone patient portals.

The integrated patient portal segment is the highest contributor to the market and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 14.44% over the forecast period. The integration of EHR with patient portals has several advantages. One of the significant advantages includes cost-effectiveness. Patient portal costs usually vary depending on the functionality required from the software, such as more capabilities and more expense. In the case of EHRs equipped with patient portals, additional payments for independent solutions are not required. In recent years, EHR providers started adapting their software. They started looking for ways to incorporate patient engagement tools to boost their product offering and deliver more incredible patient support. Significant vendors offer EHR-integrated patient portals, such as WRS Health, ZH Healthcare, and others.

A simpler software architecture drives standalone patient portals. They support only a limited number of functions, involving only one essential function. Databases and file storage solutions behind them are rarely connected to larger systems. The significant advantage of standalone patient portals is that they require fewer investments/efforts in terms of development. They also allow integration with web-based tools, such as EHRs and EMRs. They can work with primitive back-end solutions since they do not need powerful features or high-performing databases to back them up. They are designed to schedule appointments with healthcare providers, give access to medical information, receive reminders for upcoming events (immunizations), and keep up to date with information and news about the healthcare system.

By Delivery Mode Analysis

By delivery mode, the global market is segmented into web and cloud-based and on-premises.

The web and cloud-based segment owns the highest market share and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 14.53% over the forecast period. Web-based technology is being fully embraced in the pharmacy industry to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of health services by reducing the number of errors that may occur with hand-written prescriptions. Web-based patient portals involve electronically prescribing medications through provided webpage links by vendors. Most large hospitals and other healthcare settings use these portals to account for their increased demand.

An on-premises installation usually means that the hospital must provide the hardware on which the software is installed. This hardware installation will have an ongoing cost for the local IT environment and will require a hardware refresh in the future. Software licenses are usually paid upfront, along with running service agreement fees. In an on-premises environment, resources are implemented in-house and within the IT infrastructure of an enterprise. Enterprises that deploy software on-premises are responsible for ongoing server hardware costs, power consumption, and space. On-premises deployments include benefits such as the IT department having complete control over the data stored on the application.

By End-User Analysis

By end-user, the global market is segmented into hospitals, clinics and physician offices, payers, and others.

The hospital segment is the highest contributor to the market and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 13.17% over the forecast period. The technology of patient portals is becoming increasingly popular in the healthcare industry, especially in hospitals. Clinical conditions leading to hospitalization are often acute, and the quantity of medical information generated during that time could be extensive, thereby increasing the challenge of the display. As a result, hospitals are turning to patient portals to increase patient engagement. Hospitals are widely adopting patient portals with growing awareness and the increasing need for managing health information.

Many clinics are implementing patient portals due to the rise in patients as customers and the rising demands for information to be readily available at their fingertips. These portals enhance patient-provider communication, thereby improving the overall patient experience. The top five reasons for patients to discuss with clinics through patient portals include changes in health conditions, lab results, new conditions, drug dosages, and new drugs.

Recent Developments

• November 2022- Allscripts business unit Veradigm declared its 2015 ONC Health IT Update Certified Veradigm EHR, formerly known as Professional EHR. The ONC Health IT Certification Program, ensures that Certified Health Information Technology complies with the technological requirements set forth by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding capability, functionality, and security (HHS).
• September 2022- Allscripts business unit Veradigm is committed to helping independent practices improve health outcomes and lower patient costs. Veradigm and Vytalize Health agreed to integrate Vytalize Health's solutions and services directly into the Practice Fusion EHR, a Veradigm Network solution.