Publications

OBJECTIVE

Online patient portals are being widely implemented; however, no studies have examined whether portals influence health behaviors or outcomes similarly across patient racial/ethnic subgroups. We evaluated longitudinal changes in statin adherence to determine whether racial/ethnic minorities initiating use of the online refill function in patient portals had similar changes over time compared with Whites.

METHODS

We examined a retrospective cohort of diabetes patients who were existing patient portal users. The primary exposure was initiating online refill use (either exclusively for all statin refills or occasionally for some refills), compared with using the portal for other tasks (eg, exchanging secure messages with providers). The primary outcome was change in statin adherence, measured as the percentage of time a patient was without a supply of statins. Adjusted generalized estimating equation models controlled for race/ethnicity as a primary interaction term.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight percent of patient portal users were white, and all racial/ethnic minority groups had poorer baseline statin adherence compared with Whites. In adjusted difference-in-difference models, statin adherence improved significantly over time among patients who exclusively refilled prescriptions online, even after comparing changes over time with other portal users (4% absolute decrease in percentage of time without medication). This improvement was statistically similar across all racial/ethnic groups.

DISCUSSION

Patient portals may encourage or improve key health behaviors, such as medication adherence, for engaged patients, but further research will likely be required to reduce underlying racial/ethnic differences in adherence.

CONCLUSION

In a well-controlled examination of diabetes patients' behavior when using a new online feature for their healthcare management, patient portals were linked to better medication adherence across all racial/ethnic groups.

To explore the content of patient-provider e-mails in a safety-net primary care clinic, we conducted a content analysis using inductive and deductive coding of e-mail exchanges (n = 31) collected from January through November 2013. Participants were English-speaking adult patients with a chronic condition (or their caregivers) cared for at a single publicly funded general internal medicine clinic and their primary care providers (attending general internist physicians, clinical fellows, internal medicine residents, and nurse practitioners). All e-mails were nonurgent. Patients included a medical update in 19% of all e-mails. Patients requested action in 77% of e-mails, and the most common requests overall were for action regarding medications or treatment (29%). Requests for information were less common (45% of e-mails). Patient requests (n = 56) were resolved in 84% of e-mail exchanges, resulting in 63 actions. These results show that patients in safety-net clinics are capable of safely and effectively using electronic messaging for between-visit communication with providers. Safety-net systems should implement electronic communications tools as soon as possible to increase health care access and enhance patients' involvement in their care.

INTRODUCTION

Childhood adversity is an under-addressed dimension of primary prevention of disease in children and adults. Evidence shows racial/ethnic and socioeconomic patterning of childhood adversity in the U.S., yet data on the interaction of race/ethnicity and SES for exposure risk is limited, particularly with consideration of immigration history. This study examined racial/ethnic differences in nine adversities among children (from birth to age 17 years) in the National Survey of Child Health (2011-2012) and determined how differences vary by immigration history and income (N=84,837).

METHODS

We estimated cumulative adversity and individual adversity prevalences among white, black, and Hispanic children of U.S.-born and immigrant parents. We examined whether family income mediated the relationship between race/ethnicity and exposure to adversities, and tested interactions (analyses conducted in 2014-2015).

RESULTS

Across all groups, black and Hispanic children were exposed to more adversities compared with white children, and income disparities in exposure were larger than racial/ethnic disparities. For children of U.S.-born parents, these patterns of racial/ethnic and income differences were present for most individual adversities. Among children of immigrant parents, there were few racial/ethnic differences for individual adversities and income gradients were inconsistent. Among children of U.S.-born parents, the Hispanic-white disparity in exposure to adversities persisted after adjustment for income, and racial/ethnic disparities in adversity were largest among children from high-income families.

CONCLUSIONS

Simultaneous consideration of multiple social statuses offers promising frameworks for fresh thinking about the distribution of disease and the design of targeted interventions to reduce preventable health disparities.