SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Increasing Patient Portal Enrollment for Improved Quality of Post-Discharge Care

Pdf Summary

This project evaluated whether a standardized patient portal enrollment process could increase inpatient enrollment in My Health Connection (MHC), the University of Colorado Hospital patient portal, to improve post-discharge care.<br /><br />The team hypothesized that addressing common barriers to enrollment would raise participation. Through patient interviews, they identified major obstacles: patients were often unaware of the portal, lacked technology access, had limited tech literacy, were not engaged, or were not in an appropriate state to receive the information. To address these issues, they created a standardized enrollment workflow led by a designated process owner, a volunteer medical student, who guided patients through the process.<br /><br />The intervention was tested in two settings: hospital rooms and the discharge lounge. Results showed a major difference in effectiveness by location. In hospital rooms, only 1 of 22 patients enrolled, a 4.5% enrollment rate. In the discharge lounge, 6 of 9 patients enrolled, a 67% enrollment rate. The discharge lounge worked better because patients there were alert, oriented, and had more time to engage.<br /><br />Based on these findings, the authors project that expanding this approach could increase inpatient enrollment at UCH by 45%, from 9.0% to 13.1% of the total inpatient census. Because patient portal use is associated with fewer 30-day readmissions, this increase could prevent an estimated 41 readmissions annually, saving approximately $410,000.<br /><br />The authors conclude that patient portal enrollment can improve discharge care and reduce readmissions, and that the discharge lounge is an effective place to conduct enrollment. Next steps include continuing the intervention to increase sample size and expanding the discharge lounge program to reach more eligible patients.

Asset Subtitle

Cian O'Sullivan

Meta Tag

Author List Alan Makedon, Andrew Mariotti, Anthony Smyth, Celina T. Sarangi, Cian O'Sullivan, Danielle Gilbert, Emily Gottenborg, Gwynn Marsh-Armstrong, Laura Meimari, Nikita Deng, Sameer Andani, Tyler Anstett

Category Innovations

Concept Patient Portal Enrollment

Concept Post-discharge Care

Concept Readmission

Concept Enrollment Barrier

Concept Enrollment Workflow

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization University of Colorado Anschutz

Presenting Author Cian O'Sullivan

Track Transitions of Care

Keywords

patient portal enrollment

My Health Connection

inpatient enrollment

discharge lounge

post-discharge care

readmission reduction

standardized workflow

hospital discharge

technology literacy

patient engagement

Patient Portal Enrollment

Post-discharge Care

Readmission

Enrollment Barrier

Enrollment Workflow