Utilization of an Electronic Patient Portal Following Total Joint Arthroplasty Does Not Decrease Readmissions.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Health Informatics
• Patient Communication

Background:

• Electronic messaging portals facilitate patient-provider communication.
• Secure messaging is explored to reduce hospital resource utilization and readmissions post-arthroplasty.
• Understanding patient adoption and impact is crucial for optimizing these tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify patient demographics utilizing secure messaging (MyChart).
• To assess the impact of MyChart on 90-day emergency department visits and readmissions post-total joint arthroplasty.
• To correlate secure messaging use with postoperative outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 6426 primary total knee and hip arthroplasties from an institutional database.
• Recording patient demographics, comorbidities, and secure communication activity.
• Statistical analysis to determine MyChart utilization and its correlation with patient outcomes.

Main Results:

• Younger, healthier, and privately insured patients were more likely to use MyChart.
• High-risk patients (unhealthy, Medicare/Medicaid, SNF discharge) were less likely to use MyChart.
• MyChart use did not significantly affect 90-day ED return or readmission rates, but low provider response (<75%) correlated with more readmissions.

Conclusions:

• High-risk patients for ED return were less likely to use MyChart, which did not reduce 90-day ED visits or readmissions.
• Low provider response rates to secure messages may increase resource utilization.
• Investigating alternative communication methods for vulnerable patients is essential to reduce postoperative complications and resource use.