Keeping patients active and current in a patient portal

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Patient Communication
• Digital Health

Background:

• Accurate patient contact information is vital for healthcare communication.
• Outdated contact details can lead to missed administrative and clinical messages via patient portals.
• Patient Gateway is a widely used patient portal system.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a broadcast email in prompting patients to update their contact information.
• To improve patient engagement with the Patient Gateway portal.
• To enhance the reliability of patient communication channels.

Main Methods:

• A broadcast email was sent to all registered patients using the Patient Gateway portal.
• The email invited patients to review and update their contact information.
• The study tracked the response rate and success of information updates.

Main Results:

• The broadcast email approach was effective in reaching registered patients.
• A significant number of patients reviewed and updated their contact information.
• This method demonstrated success in improving data accuracy within the patient portal.

Conclusions:

• Broadcast emails are a viable strategy for encouraging patient portal data updates.
• Proactive patient outreach can enhance the accuracy of contact information.
• Improving data accuracy strengthens the effectiveness of digital patient communication.