Faculty Collaboration Database

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Use of Electronic Medical Record Messaging Among Patients With Breast Cancer: A Quality Improvement Study. Clin Breast Cancer 2023 Oct;23(7):e434-e440

Date

07/24/2023

Pubmed ID

37482498

DOI

10.1016/j.clbc.2023.07.001

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85165687479 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   1 Citation

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Despite evidence that use of electronic medical record (EMR) messaging positively impacts patients with cancer, there is little research on utilization patterns. The objective of this study is to describe the use of EMR messaging among breast cancer patients so that future interventions may be developed and targeted appropriately.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sociodemographic and MyChart usage data were collected. Study eligibility included patients who completed a visit at an academic breast center and sent at least one message to a provider during the study period (May 2021-May 2022). Chi-square and t-tests were used to describe differences between users and nonusers of EMR messaging. ANOVA and chi-square were used to describe differences between race/ethnicity.

RESULTS: A total of 4069 patients with activated MyChart accounts were included in the analysis. About 3575 (87.9%) were messaging users and 494 (12.1%) were nonusers. The mean age of users was significantly lower compared to the nonusers (57.7 vs 61.2, P< .001). Compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) individuals, non-Hispanic Black (NHB) (odds ratio [OR]: 0.38, CI [0.21, 0.37]) and Hispanic individuals (OR: 0.35, CI [0.22, 0.57]) were significantly less likely to use electronic messaging. There were statistically significant racial/ethnic differences in the types of messages sent among EMR users.

CONCLUSION: Our study shows disparate EMR messaging utilization based on age, race, and primary language. As the availability of patient portals and electronic messaging increase, it is important to understand the barriers that patients face so that they can be addressed.

Author List

Conroy M, Kamaraju S, Powell M, Harris A, Beckius A, Nagavally S, Dawson A, Min H, Wright T, Wainaina N, Binder AF

Authors

Aprill Z. Dawson PhD, MPH Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Sailaja Kamaraju MD Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Breast Neoplasms
Electronic Health Records
Female
Humans
Patient Portals
Quality Improvement