The Gender Gap in EHR Experiences and Preferences: Results from an International Cross-Sectional Survey of Patients

Abstract

The role of gender in patient experiences with patient-accessible electronic health records (EHR) remains poorly researched. Using a cross-sectional survey of 27,038 national patient portal users in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, we analysed the association between gender and EHR experiences, and usefulness of EHR functions. We found that women were more frequent EHR users and reported a similar incidence of a positive EHR experience as men. Unlike men, significantly more women recounted a negative EHR experience. When rating EHR functions, usefulness ratings were significantly associated with gender on all items but ‘contact with provider’. Overall, women tended to regard more functions as useful than men. Further EHR development should consider gender in functionality design.