Using Publicly Available Data to Characterize Consumers Use of Email to Communicate with Healthcare Providers

The use of patient focused technology has been proclaimed as a means to improve patient satisfaction and improve care outcomes. The Center for Medicaid/Medicare Services, through its EHR Incentive Program, has required eligible hospitals and professionals to send and receive secure messages from patients in order to receive financial incentives and avoid reimbursement penalties. Secure messaging between providers and patients has the potential to improve communication and care outcomes. The purpose of this study was to use National Health Interview Series (NHIS) data to identify the patient characteristics associated with communicating with healthcare providers via email. Individual patient characteristics were analyzed to determine the likelihood of emailing healthcare providers. The use of email for this purpose is associated with educational attainment, having a usual place of receiving healthcare, income, and geography. Publicly available data such as the NHIS may be used to better understand trends in adoption and use of consumer health information technologies.