Web-based messaging used by older adults to reduce doctor office visits

July 2007

Web-based Messaging System Reduces Office Visits, Phone Calls

Patients participating in a Web-based message service made fewer visits and telephone calls to their physician's office than a control group of patients who did not use the service, according to a study published by Kaiser Permanente researchers, Modern Healthcare reports.

Researchers expected younger patients to use the service because they are technologically savvy, but "it was the older folks, the 50 to 60 age group, these are the people with the highest propensity for chronic conditions" who "really seemed to jump at this," Terhilda Garrido, co-author of the study, said.

Source: reported in iHealthbeat on an article within Modern Healthcare