Prevalence, Factors, and Association of Electronic Communication Use with Patient-Perceived Quality of Care from the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey 5-Cycle 3: Exploratory Study

Abstract

Background: Electronic communication (e-communication), referring to communication through electronic platforms such as the web, patient portal, or mobile phone, has become increasingly important, as it extends traditional in-person communication with fewer limitations of timing and locations. However, little is known about the current status of patients’ use of e-communication with clinicians and whether the use is related to the better patient-perceived quality of care at the population level. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of and the factors associated with e-communication use and the association of e-communication use with patient-perceived quality of care by using the nationally representative sample of the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey 5 (HINTS 5)-Cycle 3. Methods: Data from 5438 adult responders (mean age 49.04 years, range 18-98 years) were included in this analysis. Multiple logistic and linear regressions were conducted to explore responders’ personal characteristics related to their use of e-communication with clinicians in the past 12 months and how their use was related to perceived quality of care. Descriptive analyses for e-communication use according to age groups were also performed. All analyses considered the complex survey design using the jackknife replication method. Results: The overall prevalence of e-communication use was 60.3%, with a significantly lower prevalence in older adults (16.6%) than that in <45-year-old adults (41%) and 45-65-year-old adults (42.4%). All percentages are weighted; therefore, absolute values are not shown. American adults who used e-communication were more likely to be high school graduates (odds ratio [OR] 1.95, 95% CI 1.14-3.34; P=.02), some college degree holders (OR 3.34, 95% CI 1.84-6.05; P