Analysing common topics of secure patient messages in hidradenitis suppurativa: a text-embedding and natural language-processing approach

Abstract

Our study of 410 patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and 12 805 direct patient messages identified common message topics, including scheduling; medication refills; itch, bleeding and burning symptoms; insurance and cost; pain; and wound care. Compared with the overall cohort of patients with HS, a lower proportion of Black and Hispanic patients utilized patient portal messaging. Our study provides insights into message topics among patients with HS and identifies opportunities for optimizing care via secure messaging.