Primary Care Providers Crucial to Patient Portal Adoption

Integrating promotion of online patient portals into primary care visits appears to be the most effective way to increase portal usage, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University-led study published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Researchers also found that 1 out of 3 patients aged 60-69 utilized the portals--the highest rate of any age group studied.

“While patient portals can help to engage patients in their care and even lead to improved health outcomes, getting patients online has been difficult,” said Alex Krist, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, VCU School of Medicine. “However, primary care practices can effectively encourage their patients to use a portal by making promotion of the portal part of routine care.”