Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston has had a patient portal since 2000. The portal, PatientSite, allows patients to view their records online, request appointments and prescription refills and send secure messages to physicians.
A recent study in Health Affairs chronicles the portal's usage between 2001 and 2010:
- 49,778: The number of patients enrolled in the portal at the end of 2010.
- 22.7 percent: The percent of all patients seen by the health system that were enrolled in the portal at the end of 2010.
- 18,400: The number of patients who used the patient portal to send at least one message to a physician in 2010.
- 18.9: The average number of messages per 100 patients between 2005 and 2010.
- 97.1 percent: The percent of participating physicians who received at least one message from a patient during the study period.
- 39.2: The average number of messages per month a physician received in 2010, up from 11.9 messages per month in 2001.
- 48 percent: Of all physicians who received a message, 48 percent were primary care physicians.
- 87 percent: The percent of portal-using patients who are commercially insured.
More articles on patient portals:
For increased patient portal adoption, start with PCP visit, finds study
UPMC's patient portal advice: Go slow, keep it simple
The best practice management interfaces