Industry Insight

Study Finds the Use of Patient Portals Is Lower Than Expected

In a study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, Alicia Hong, PhD, a professor at George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services, and colleagues used data from national surveys to examine how Americans used EHR patient portals from 2014 to 2018.

Following the HITECH Act, most hospitals and clinics have adopted EHRs and given their patients access to their medical records via patient portals. This allows patients to make appointments, view and download their testing reports, and communicate with their providers via online secure messaging. The use of patient portals offers the benefits of reducing medical costs, increasing access, and improving health care quality.

The researchers’ data analysis revealed that the use of patient portals increased from 25.6% in 2014 to 30.5% in 2017, and 31.4% in 2018, much lower than anticipated. The users of patient portals were more likely to be white females with higher levels of education or income, suggesting a persistent digital divide. Meanwhile, high-speed internet access, prior experience of online communication with health care providers, and having confidence in EHR data safety were linked to more patient portal use, suggesting facilitators of patient portal use.

Hong and colleagues call for more research on the significant digital divide in the adoption of patient portal use; they also advocate for targeted intervention for people of low socio-economic status, especially the programs that would improve eHealth literacy and public confidence in data safety.

— Source: George Mason University College of Health and Human Services

Report Analyzes Opioid Prescribing

New research shows mixed clinical results of an EMR-embedded clinical decision support (CDS) system for opioid prescribing. The report, “Clinical Effectiveness of Decision Support for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Noncancer Pain: A Prospective Cohort Study,” was published in Value in Health, the official journal of ISPOR—the professional society for health economics and outcomes research.

To promote patient safety, quality of care, and adherence to practice guidelines for safely prescribing opioids for chronic noncancer pain in the United States, Ochsner Health System implemented a multicomponent EMR CDS system in accordance with the 2016 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guideline. The EMR CDS directly targeted providers to increase awareness of best practices within their usual workflow. It incorporated an opioid health maintenance tool to display the status of risk mitigation, and the medication order embedded the morphine equivalent daily dose calculator and a hyperlink to the Louisiana pharmacy drug monitoring program.

After incorporation of the EMR CDS system, patients had higher rates of urine drug screens and naloxone prescriptions. In addition, specialty referrals to physical or occupational therapy, orthopedics, neurology, and psychiatry or psychology increased in the postintervention period. Although emergency department use decreased, hospitalization rates did not change. Furthermore, implementation of the EMR CDS did not change the main outcome of interest, namely, rates of prescribing high-dose opioids.

“Given the nationwide opioid crisis, health systems and providers must urgently find ways to extend opioid management beyond standardized monitoring of risk factors for misuse or abuse and set clear protocols for next steps in chronic care management,” says author Eboni G. Price-Haywood, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Outcomes and Health Services Research at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. “In this article, we show that technology optimization targeting providers may improve some aspects of opioid risk mitigation but may not as a single intervention change opioid-prescribing behaviors. Multilevel interventions that concurrently target patients, providers, health systems, and health policy are likely to be more effective.”

— Source: ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research

Change Healthcare Announces Sale of Its Connected Analytics Business to Kaufman Hall

Change Healthcare announces the sale of its Connected Analytics business to Kaufman Hall, a provider of enterprise performance management software, data, and management consulting services. The transaction supports Change Healthcare’s commitment to focus on and invest in core aspects of their business to fuel growth and advance innovation.

Products in the Connected Analytics business include Performance Manager and Analytics Explorer, as well as Data Platform & Solutions, HIE, and Orders & Results. Change Healthcare retains all solutions in the business that are not listed here.

“The sale of the Connected Analytics business aligns with our previously stated strategic intent to concentrate on the areas of our business where we can drive the greatest impact for our customers, through our Change Healthcare platform,” says Neil de Crescenzo, president and CEO of Change Healthcare. “This action strengthens our ability to direct our focus and resources towards that objective, while placing the Connected Analytics business with an organization that can support its core mission and strategies. We remain committed to our Connected Analytics business customers and will work closely with Kaufman Hall to provide a seamless and uninterrupted transition.”

— Source: Change Healthcare