Improving Patient Portal Use in Primary Care

Abstract

The Affordable Health Care Act has changed the manner in which healthcare is delivered and is focused on value-based health care in the United States. Value-based health care is safe, low-cost quality care, which seeks to improve wellness, Medicare services, and enhances interdisciplinary care and care coordination. Value-based care changes the way health care is delivered and can potentially result in billions of dollars in health care savings. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase the number of patients 18 years and older enrolled in the patient portal at a primary care site in rural North Carolina. Increasing the number of patients enrolled in the patient portal is a financial incentive for the organization to meeting the Meaningful Use criteria in receiving funding. The project lead sought to increase portal user enrollment among patients who were 18 years and older, through the implementation of a site-specific protocol. A site-specific protocol was implemented for staff to assist patients with on-site enrollment to the patient portal. Over a 12-week period, there was an increase in patient portal enrollment to 14% compared to 4.4% prior to implementation. The increase of 9.6% has implication toward improving patient care, improving the health of the population, and reducing the cost of care, which aligns with the Triple Aim.