Outreach Patient Portal Messages Restores Well Child Care

Completion of well child care visits with the implementation of electronic outreach using patient portal messages has been explored by a new study published in the journal Jama Network Open. Outreach messages to patients overdue for well child care (WCC) can be delivered in different ways (ie, telephone calls and text messages). Use of electronic health record patient portals are increasingly common but their effectiveness is uncertain.

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of patient portal outreach messages, with and without the date of the last WCC, on the scheduling and completion of WCC visits and completion of vaccinations.

Validity of Patient Portal Outreach Messages

They explored whether reminder messaging delivered via electronic health record patient portal affects the scheduling and completion of well child care (WCC) visits and delivery of vaccinations.

An intention-to-treat, multigroup, randomized clinical trial that included 945 patients aged 6 to 17 years was conducted at 3 academic primary care practices from July 30 to October 4, 2021.

The population included predominantly non-Hispanic Black, low-income children (age, 6-17 years) whose parents had an active portal account. Participants were randomized to the standard message, tailored message, or no message (control) group. Two messages were delivered to those in the message groups.

Bridging the Care!

It was found that the rates of scheduling and completing a WCC differed significantly between groups, with the portal message groups outperforming the control group.

Rates of COVID-19 vaccine completion also significantly differed between groups. In other words, the outreach messages delivered via electronic health record patient portals increased the rates of scheduling and completing WCC visits and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

This provides a useful tool to help restore well child care in populations whose care was delayed during the pandemic.

Source-Eurekalert