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. 2015 Mar-Apr;30(2):105-13.
doi: 10.1177/1062860614523488. Epub 2014 Feb 21.

Meaningful use and the patient portal: patient enrollment, use, and satisfaction with patient portals at a later-adopting center

Joan Neuner  1 , Megan Fedders  2 , Mary Caravella  3 , Lisa Bradford  4 , Marilyn Schapira  5
Affiliations

Meaningful use and the patient portal: patient enrollment, use, and satisfaction with patient portals at a later-adopting center

Joan Neuner et al. Am J Med Qual. 2015 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Many physicians are adopting patient portals in response to governmental incentives for meaningful use (MU), but the stage 2 requirements for portal use may be particularly challenging for newer electronic health record (EHR) users. This study examined enrollment, use based on MU requirements, and satisfaction in a recently adopting fee-for-service multispecialty system. Between 2010 and 2012, overall portal enrollment increased from 13.2% to 23.1% but varied substantially by physician specialty. In 2013, more than 97% of physicians would have met requirements for a stage 2 MU utilization measure requiring that patients download personal health information, but only 38% of all physicians (87% of primary care physicians [PCPs] and 37% of other specialists) would have met e-mail requirements. Satisfaction with the portal overall and with portal-based e-mails was high. These results suggest that later-adopting PCPs can succeed in providing satisfactory record and e-mail access but specialists may find reaching e-mail thresholds more difficult.

Keywords: electronic health records; meaningful use; medical informatics; patient satisfaction.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicting Interests

None of the authors have conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Satisfaction with Portal Features
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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