Characteristics of office-based providers associated with secure electronic messaging use: Achieving meaningful use

To identify characteristics of office-based provider used as a usual source of care (USC) associated with secure electronic messaging (SM) use.

2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component and the supplemental Medical Organizations Survey.

Cross-sectional analysis.

Patients are linked to characteristics of their usual source of care provider.

We found that 89 percent of patients whose USC had electronic health records were able to exchange secure messages with their provider. Patients whose USC reported being patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) or that used other health information technology (HIT) were also more likely to have been able to exchange SM with their provider. Patients of independent group or solo practices were less likely to have been able to exchange SM relative to patients whose USC practice was hospital owned.

Patients were more likely to have visited a USC that exchanged SMs if that practice also used other electronic health records functionalities. Study findings suggest that while patients' USC practices were likely to exchange secure messages, there is a disparity in SM use between physician-owned practices, and hospital-owned practices.