Meaningful use in the safety net: a rapid ethnography of patient portal implementation at five community health centers in California.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

US health care institutions are implementing secure websites (patient portals) to achieve federal Meaningful Use (MU) certification. We sought to understand efforts to implement portals in "safety net" health care systems that provide services for low-income populations.

Materials and methods

Our rapid ethnography involved visits at 4 California safety net health systems and in-depth interviews at a fifth. Visits included interviews with clinicians and executives ( n  = 12), informal focus groups with front-line staff ( n  = 35), observations of patient portal sign-up procedures and clinic work, review of marketing materials and portal use data, and a brief survey ( n  = 45).

Results

Our findings demonstrate that the health systems devoted considerable effor

SUBMITTER: Ackerman SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6080844 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature