Implementation of e-visit billing for responding to patient-initiated messages that require substantive medical decision-making is associated with a modest decrease in patient-initiated portal message volume, according to a study published online Dec. 31 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Shannon M. Dunlay, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues examined the effect of billing eligible patient-initiated portal messages as e-visits in a retrospective observation pre-post comparison and prospective survey. The volume of patient-initiated medical advice message threads was compared preimplementation versus postimplementation of e-visit billing. An online survey was used to assess health system provider perceptions of e-visit billing.
The researchers found that the volume of patient-initiated medical advice message threads decreased by 8.8 percent in the six months after e-visit billing implementation (Aug 18, 2023, through Feb. 18, 2024) compared with the same dates the year prior. Overall, 5,183 medical advice messages (0.3 percent) were billed…