Targeted Electronic Patient Portal Messaging Increases Hepatitis C Virus Screening in Primary Care: a Randomized Study

Douglas Halket; Jimmy Dang; Anuradha Phadke; Channa Jayasekera; W Ray Kim; Paul Kwo; Lance Downing; Aparna Goel

doi:10.1007/s11606-022-07460-1

Targeted Electronic Patient Portal Messaging Increases Hepatitis C Virus Screening in Primary Care: a Randomized Study

J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Oct;37(13):3318-3324. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07460-1. Epub 2022 Mar 1.

Authors

Douglas Halket¹, Jimmy Dang², Anuradha Phadke³, Channa Jayasekera⁴, W Ray Kim⁵, Paul Kwo⁵, Lance Downing⁶, Aparna Goel⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA. dhalket@stanford.edu.
² Population Health, Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
³ Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
⁴ Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente, Seattle, WA, USA.
⁵ Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Center for Biomedical Informatics Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.

Abstract

Importance: Electronic health record (EHR) tools such as direct-to-patient messaging and automated lab orders are effective at improving uptake of preventive health measures. It is unknown if patient engagement in primary care impacts efficacy of such messaging.

Objective: To determine whether more engaged patients, defined as those who have an upcoming visit scheduled, are more likely to respond to a direct-to-patient message with an automated lab order for hepatitis C virus (HCV) screening.

Design: Randomized trial PARTICIPANTS: One thousand six hundred randomly selected Stanford Primary Care patients, 800 with an upcoming visit within 6 months and 800 without, born between 1945 and 1965 who were due for HCV screening. Each group was randomly divided into cohorts of 400 subjects each. Subjects were followed for 1 year.

Intervention: One 400 subject cohort in each group received a direct-to-patient message through the EHR portal with HCV antibody lab order.

Main outcome and measure: The EHR was queried on a monthly basis for 6 months after the intervention to monitor which subjects completed HCV screening. For any subjects screened positive for HCV, follow-up through the cascade of HCV care was monitored, and if needed, scheduled by the study team.

Key results: Of 1600 subjects, 538 (34%) completed HCV screening. In the stratum without an upcoming appointment, 18% in the control group completed screening compared to 26% in intervention group (p<0.01). Similarly, in the stratum with an upcoming appointment, 34% in the control group completed screening compared to 58% in the intervention group (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Direct-to-patient messaging coupled with automated lab orders improved HCV screening rates compared to standard of care, particularly in more engaged patients. Including this intervention in primary care can maximize screening with each visit, which is particularly valuable in times when physical throughput in the healthcare system may be low.

Keywords: electronic health record; hepatitis C; patient engagement; patient messaging; screening.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Electronics
Hepacivirus
Hepatitis C* / diagnosis
Hepatitis C* / epidemiology
Humans
Mass Screening
Patient Portals*
Primary Health Care