TY - JOUR
T1 - Using secure messaging to update medications list in ambulatory care setting
AU - Santanam, Raghu
AU - Frey, Keith
AU - Chang, Yu Hui
AU - Cheng, Meng Ru
AU - Freimund, Sharon
AU - Patel, Asha
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015.
Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - This study analyzed patient adoption of secure messaging to update medication list in an ambulatory care setting. The objective was to establish demographic differences between users and non-users of secure messaging for medications list update. Efficiency of secure messaging for the updates was compared to fax and telephone based updates. Methods: The study used a retrospective, cross-sectional study of patient medical records and pharmacy call logs at Mayo Clinic, Arizona from December 2012 to May 2013, approximately one year after organizing a pharmacy call center for medication updates. A subgroup analysis during a 2-week period was used to measure time to complete update. Main measures: Main dependent variable is the frequency of medication list updates over the study duration. Technician time required for the update was also utilized. Results: A total of 22,495 outpatient visits were drawn and 18,702 unique patients were included in the primary analysis. A total of 402 unique patients were included in sub-group analysis. Secure message response rate (49.5%) was statistically significantly lower than that for phone calls (54.8%, p<. 0.001). Time to complete the update was significantly higher for faxed medication lists (Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, p<. 0.001) when compared to those for secure message or phone. Conclusions: Around 50% of the patients respond to medication update requests before office visit when contacted using phone calls and secure messages. Given the demographic differences between users and non-users of patient portal, mixed mode communication with patients is likely to be the norm for the foreseeable future in outpatient settings.
AB - This study analyzed patient adoption of secure messaging to update medication list in an ambulatory care setting. The objective was to establish demographic differences between users and non-users of secure messaging for medications list update. Efficiency of secure messaging for the updates was compared to fax and telephone based updates. Methods: The study used a retrospective, cross-sectional study of patient medical records and pharmacy call logs at Mayo Clinic, Arizona from December 2012 to May 2013, approximately one year after organizing a pharmacy call center for medication updates. A subgroup analysis during a 2-week period was used to measure time to complete update. Main measures: Main dependent variable is the frequency of medication list updates over the study duration. Technician time required for the update was also utilized. Results: A total of 22,495 outpatient visits were drawn and 18,702 unique patients were included in the primary analysis. A total of 402 unique patients were included in sub-group analysis. Secure message response rate (49.5%) was statistically significantly lower than that for phone calls (54.8%, p<. 0.001). Time to complete the update was significantly higher for faxed medication lists (Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, p<. 0.001) when compared to those for secure message or phone. Conclusions: Around 50% of the patients respond to medication update requests before office visit when contacted using phone calls and secure messages. Given the demographic differences between users and non-users of patient portal, mixed mode communication with patients is likely to be the norm for the foreseeable future in outpatient settings.
KW - Ambulatory care facilities
KW - Clinical pharmacy services
KW - Medication reconciliation
KW - Patient portal
KW - Secure messaging
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2015.06.003
DO - 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2015.06.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 26113460
AN - SCOPUS:84940899652
SN - 1386-5056
VL - 84
SP - 754
EP - 762
JO - International Journal of Medical Informatics
JF - International Journal of Medical Informatics
IS - 10
ER -