Vizient and the Association of American Medical Colleges surveyed 40 health systems across 24 states to examine how they are using patient portal communication, including medical advice messages and structured e-visits.
Here are five key findings from the survey:
- The majority of respondent said between 51% and 75% of patients are enrolled in portal access.
- Only 57% of respondents offer structured e-visits.
- Just 25% of health systems bill for medical advice messages, and only 0.05% to 3% of those messages qualify for billing (requiring at least five minutes of decision-making over a seven-day period).
- Sixty-five percent of health systems reported billing for structured e-visits, which involve questionnaire-based communications.
- Sixty-eight percent of respondents do not compensate staff for handling medical advice messages.