Using Publicly Available Data to Characterize Consumers Use of Email to Communicate with Healthcare Providers.
The use of patient focused technology has been proclaimed as a means to improve patient satisfaction and improve care outcomes. The Center for Medicaid/Medicare Services, through its EHR Incentive Program, has required eligible hospitals and professionals to send and receive secure messages from patients in order to receive financial incentives and avoid reimbursement penalties. Secure messaging between providers and patients has the potential to improve communication and care outcomes. The purpose of this study was to use National Health Interview Series (NHIS) data to identify the patient characteristics associated with communicating with healthcare providers via email. Individual patient characteristics were analyzed to determine the likelihood of emailing healthcare providers. The use of email for this purpose is associated with educational attainment, having a usual place of receiving healthcare, income, and geography. Publicly available data such as the NHIS may be used to better understand trends in adoption and use of consumer health information technologies.
Institute for Health Informatics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Ryan H
RH
Sandefer
Carolina Health Informatics Program- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Saif S
SS
Khairat
Institute for Health Informatics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
David S
DS
Pieczkiewicz
Institute for Health Informatics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Stuart M
SM
Speedie
D003256:Community Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016494:Computer Security / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003219:Confidentiality; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057225:Data Mining / Q000379:methods; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D034742:Electronic Mail / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014600:Utilization Review