Patient Portal Helpline Outreach and Telehealth Visit Completion: A Randomized Controlled Quality Improvement Project

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Digital Health
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Telehealth visits are increasingly common, but many patients struggle with video completion via patient portals.
• This can lead to missed appointments, lower reimbursement (audio-only visits), and exacerbate the digital divide.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if a centralized patient portal helpline offering proactive education improves telehealth visit attendance and video completion.
• To assess the impact on patient portal enrollment prior to scheduled telehealth appointments.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled quality improvement project was conducted in four urban primary care clinics.
• The study involved patients with scheduled telehealth appointments who did not have an active patient portal account.
• Outcomes were compared between an intervention group receiving helpline support and a control group receiving usual care.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in overall telehealth visit completion rates between the intervention (73.8%) and control (70.1%) groups.
• The intervention group showed a higher proportion of video completions (28.1%) compared to the control group (15.7%).
• Patient portal activation rates within 14 days did not differ significantly between the groups.

Conclusions:

• A centralized helpline can enhance telehealth video usage through proactive patient outreach and instruction.
• However, this approach alone does not significantly improve overall telehealth attendance or patient portal enrollment.
• Alternative strategies are necessary to address barriers to telehealth visit attendance and patient portal adoption.