A Patient Portal (PP) is a secure digital platform that allows patients to access health information, communicate with care teams, and manage appointments or documentation.
In research, patient portals may be used to support recruitment, visit scheduling, eConsent communication, or delivery of study reminders and questionnaires. Because portals can handle sensitive data, they must include strong authentication, role-based access, and audit logging. IRBs evaluate how portals are used to ensure privacy protections and appropriate participant communication. Proper implementation can improve engagement, retention, and data completeness.