Meaningful Use and the Patient Portal

Abstract

Many physicians are adopting patient portals in response to governmental incentives for meaningful use (MU), but the stage 2 requirements for portal use may be particularly challenging for newer electronic health record (EHR) users. This study examined enrollment, use based on MU requirements, and satisfaction in a recently adopting fee-for-service multispecialty system. Between 2010 and 2012, overall portal enrollment increased from 13.2% to 23.1% but varied substantially by physician specialty. In 2013, more than 97% of physicians would have met requirements for a stage 2 MU utilization measure requiring that patients download personal health information, but only 38% of all physicians (87% of primary care physicians [PCPs] and 37% of other specialists) would have met e-mail requirements. Satisfaction with the portal overall and with portal-based e-mails was high. These results suggest that later-adopting PCPs can succeed in providing satisfactory record and e-mail access but specialists may find reaching e-mail thresholds more difficult.