Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic researchers say patient portal messages have declined after the system began billing the interactions as e-visits, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The health system installed e-visit billing systemwide in August 2023 and after six months the patient-initiated medical advice messages dropped 8% year over year. The system reported 5,183 medical advice messages billed over those six months.
Researchers reported a consistent seven-day emergency service use year over year for patients before and after the new policy, even though patients saw the billing disclaimer. The system's providers accepted the e-visit billing policy but were concerned about an increased workload.
"These findings suggest that implementation of e-visit billing was associated with a modest decrease in patient-initiated portal message volume and was overall acceptable to providers in a large integrated health system," the study authors concluded.