Characteristics of Office-Based Providers Associated with Secure Electronic Messaging Use: Achieving Meaningful Use
Discussant: Katherine Hempstead
This study uses the 2015 Medical Organizations Survey (MOS) collected by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to identify characteristics of office-based providers used as a usual source of care (USC) associated with SM use. Using MOS survey weighted means we find that in 2015, 89 percent of patients whose USC practices had electronic health records (EHRs) saw a practice that exchanged SM. Using logistic regression of SM use on practice and patient characteristics, we find that patients whose USC reported being patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) or used other health information technology (HIT) were more likely to have seen a USC practice that also used SM. Patients with an independent group or solo USC were less likely to have seen practices with SM relative to patients whose USC practice was hospital owned. Our results suggest that the organizational characteristics of USC practices can significantly affect whether patients of that practice are able to use SM to communicate with their provider, and in turn realize the benefits SM for their care management. Further, our findings suggest that practice size and ownership structure have a large role in determining whether a practice adopts SM, and that adopting SM is correlated with the use of other HIT and attaining PCMH certification. Understanding the relationship between practice organization/behavior and adoption of new HIT can inform future policies that better address barriers to HIT adoption.
Full Papers:
- Monestime Biener Wolford Mason ASHE 2019 Paper.pdf (240.4KB) - Full Paper