Patient portal utilization is growing among older adults, according to Michigan Medicine data, but there’s still room to close the digital divide across sociodemographics.

Over the past five years, the number of adults ages 50 to 80 who use the patient portal for patient data access increased 27 percentage points, from 51 percent to 78 percent, per the Michigan Medicine National Poll on Health Aging.

This trend comes on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed many patients and providers to explore the systems that would allow them to connect remotely.

In addition to telehealth, patient portals came front and center as more patients checked COVID-19 test results and generally took greater control over their own health and well-being, according to Denise Anthony, a professor and chair of the Department of Health and Management Policy at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

“This change makes access to secure portals even more important for older adults who want to see their doctors and other health care providers virtually. It also makes the disparities we found in our poll even more troubling,” Anthony, who worked on the poll and studies use of telehealth and patient portals, said in a statement.