Secure E-mailing Between Physicians and Patients

Garrido, Terhilda; Meng, Di; Wang, Jian J.; Palen, Ted E.; Kanter, Michael H.

doi:10.1097/jac.0000000000000043

Cited by 39 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Mirroring this, other studies group together patients not registered for the portal with registered patients that haven’t messaged, highlighting the variability in reported metrics [ 35 ]. Similarly to the definitions of other analyzed metrics, provider use definitions revealed variability: while Krasowski et al [ 36 ] and Pillemer et al [ 37 ] tabulated provider use through “manual release of test results ahead of automatic release,” others calculated this metric through provider response to patient messages [ 38 , 39 ]. The combined analysis of patient and provider use continues in more recent literature.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Patient Portal Use: Systematic Review of Utilization Metrics

Beal¹,

Kolman²,

Jones³

et al. 2021

J Med Internet Res

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Background Use of patient portals has been associated with positive outcomes in patient engagement and satisfaction. Portal studies have also connected portal use, as well as the nature of users’ interactions with portals, and the contents of their generated data to meaningful cost and quality outcomes. Incentive programs in the United States have encouraged uptake of health information technology, including patient portals, by setting standards for meaningful use of such technology. However, despite widespread interest in patient portal use and adoption, studies on patient portals differ in actual metrics used to operationalize and track utilization, leading to unsystematic and incommensurable characterizations of use. No known review has systematically assessed the measurements used to investigate patient portal utilization. Objective The objective of this study was to apply systematic review criteria to identify and compare methods for quantifying and reporting patient portal use. Methods Original studies with quantifiable metrics of portal use published in English between 2014 and the search date of October 17, 2018, were obtained from PubMed using the Medical Subject Heading term “Patient Portals” and related keyword searches. The first search round included full text review of all results to confirm a priori data charting elements of interest and suggest additional categories inductively; this round was supplemented by the retrieval of works cited in systematic reviews (based on title screening of all citations). An additional search round included broader keywords identified during the full-text review of the first round. Second round results were screened at abstract level for inclusion and confirmed by at least two raters. Included studies were analyzed for metrics related to basic use/adoption, frequency of use, duration metrics, intensity of use, and stratification of users into “super user” or high utilizers. Additional categories related to provider (including care team/administrative) use of the portal were identified inductively. Additional analyses included metrics aligned with meaningful use stage 2 (MU-2) categories employed by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the association between the number of portal metrics examined and the number of citations and the journal impact factor. Results Of 315 distinct search results, 87 met the inclusion criteria. Of the a priori metrics, plus provider use, most studies included either three (26 studies, 30%) or four (23 studies, 26%) metrics. Nine studies (10%) only reported the patient use/adoption metric and only one study (1%) reported all six metrics. Of the US-based studies (n=76), 18 (24%) were explicitly motivated by MU-2 compliance; 40 studies (53%) at least mentioned these incentives, but only 6 studies (8%) presented metrics from which compliance rates could be inferred. Finally, the number of metrics examined was not associated with either the number of citations or the publishing journal’s impact factor. Conclusions Portal utilization measures in the research literature can fall below established standards for “meaningful” or they can substantively exceed those standards in the type and number of utilization properties measured. Understanding how patient portal use has been defined and operationalized may encourage more consistent, well-defined, and perhaps more meaningful standards for utilization, informing future portal development.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Patient Portal Use: Systematic Review of Utilization Metrics

Beal¹,

Kolman²,

Jones³

et al. 2021

J Med Internet Res

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show abstract

“…Ten studies and one review were analyzed from 2014. Researchers found an increase in communication between patients and provider through SM, as well as an increase in communication between patients and their health system, which resulted in an increase in customer retention through use of the patient portal [ 27 , 29 ]. Patients continued to respond positively about the SM feature of a portal or a portal-like app [ 24 , 26 , 32 , 33 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patient portals seem to offer great potential for higher quality care, but it is unknown whether providers who offer the portals will be able to capitalize on the Meaningful Use, stage 2 incentive due to lack of awareness of the patient portal service [ 24 , 25 , 27 ]. Measure seven of 17 states requires eligible professionals (EP) to “provide patients the ability to view online, download and transmit their health information within four business days of the information being available to the EP” [ 2 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Patient Portals on Quality Outcomes and Its Implications to Meaningful Use: A Systematic Review

Kruse¹,

Bolton²,

Freriks³

2015

J Med Internet Res

340

258

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BackgroundThe Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act imposes pressure on health care organizations to qualify for “Meaningful Use”. It is assumed that portals should increase patient participation in medical decisions, but whether or not the use of portals improves outcomes remains to be seen.ObjectiveThe purpose of this systemic review is to outline and summarize study results on the effect of patient portals on quality, or chronic-condition outcomes as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and its implications to Meaningful Use since the beginning of 2011. This review updates and builds on the work by Ammenwerth, Schnell-Inderst, and Hoerbst.MethodsWe performed a systematic literature search in PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We identified any data-driven study, quantitative or qualitative, that examined a relationship between patient portals, or patient portal features, and outcomes. We also wanted to relate the findings back to Meaningful Use criteria. Over 4000 articles were screened, and 27 were analyzed and summarized for this systematic review.ResultsWe identified 26 studies and 1 review, and we summarized their findings and applicability to our research question. Very few studies associated use of the patient portal, or its features, to improved outcomes; 37% (10/27) of papers reported improvements in medication adherence, disease awareness, self-management of disease, a decrease of office visits, an increase in preventative medicine, and an increase in extended office visits, at the patient’s request for additional information. The results also show an increase in quality in terms of patient satisfaction and customer retention, but there are weak results on medical outcomes.ConclusionsThe results of this review demonstrate that more health care organizations today offer features of a patient portal than in the review published in 2011. Articles reviewed rarely analyzed a full patient portal but instead analyzed features of a portal such as secure messaging, as well as disease management and monitoring. The ability of patients to be able to view their health information electronically meets the intent of Meaningful Use, Stage 2 requirements, but the ability to transmit to a third party was not found in the review.

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“…Prior findings demonstrated positive impacts of PPs on the management of chronic conditions (Irizarry, DeVito Dabbs, & Curran, 2015; Lau, Campbell, Tang, Thompson, & Elliott, 2014), adherence to treatment (Fiks et al, 2015), and patient–provider communication (Garrido, Meng, Wang, Palen, & Kanter, 2014). Currently, PP adoption rates vary across health care organizations (Kaiser Permanente, 2015; Lyles et al, 2016); however, the overall nationwide adoption rate has been low (26.8% in 2014; National Cancer Institute [NCI], 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patient Portal Use Among Older Adults: What Is Really Happening Nationwide?

et al. 2018

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Patient portals (PPs), secure websites that allow patients to access their electronic health records and other health tools, can benefit older adults managing chronic conditions. However, studies have shown a lack of PP use in older adults. Little is known about the way they use PPs in community settings and specific challenges they encounter. The aim of this study was to examine the current state of PP use in older adults, employing baseline data (quantitative and qualitative) from an ongoing nationwide online trial. The dataset includes 272 older adults (mean age, 70.0 years [50-92]) with chronic conditions. Findings showed that the majority of participants (71.3%) were using one or more PPs, but in limited ways. Their comments revealed practical difficulties with managing PPs, perceived benefits, and suggestions for improvement. Further studies with different older adult groups (e.g., clinic patients) will help develop and disseminate more usable PPs for these individuals.

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Secure E-mailing Between Physicians and Patients

Cited by 39 publications

References 11 publications

Quantifying Patient Portal Use: Systematic Review of Utilization Metrics

Quantifying Patient Portal Use: Systematic Review of Utilization Metrics

The Effect of Patient Portals on Quality Outcomes and Its Implications to Meaningful Use: A Systematic Review

Patient Portal Use Among Older Adults: What Is Really Happening Nationwide?

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