INTRODUCTION Research suggests that electronic messaging can improve patient engagement. Studies indicate that a 'digital divide' may exist, where certain patient populations may be using electronic messaging less frequently. This study aims to determine which patient characteristics are associated with different levels of usage of an electronic patient-provider messaging system in a diverse ur...

In this article, we evaluate the impact of a health literacy intervention to decrease emergency room and doctor's office visits for common childhood illness symptoms. Our education model trained low-income parents of young children (9,240 families) at 55 Head Start sites on the use of a low-literacy health book to respond to common childhood illnesses. The overall strategic framework required e...

BACKGROUND Email is the most important mechanism introduced since the telephone for developing interpersonal relationships. This study was designed to provide insight into how patients are using email to request information or services from their healthcare providers. METHODS Following IRB approval, we reviewed all electronic mail (e-mail) messages sent between five study clinicians and their...

OBJECTIVE This report describes ambulatory visits for asthma in the United States across three ambulatory care settings. The primary focus is on visits to office-based physicians. METHODS The data sources include the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), a national probability survey of visits to office-based physicians in the United States, and the National Hospital Ambulatory Med...

OBJECTIVE To document changes in type of financing for office-based visits for the treatment of common skin conditions and to dermatologists. DESIGN Data from a national survey of visits to office-based practitioners conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics were used. The stratified sampling technique permits estimation of the total number of office visits with specific characte...

OBJECTIVES This report describes ambulatory care visits made to physician offices in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected characteristics of the physician's practice, the patient, and the visit. METHODS The data presented in this report were collected in the 2006 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), a national probability sample survey of visits to nonfederal of...

OBJECTIVES This report describes the utilization of ambulatory medical care services as provided by nonfederally employed, office-based orthopedic surgeons during the period 1995-96. Statistics are presented on selected physician, patient, and visit characteristics. METHODS The data presented in this report were collected from the 1995 and 1996 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NAMCS)...

OBJECTIVES (1) To describe temporal patterns of office visits for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and stimulant treatment for 5- to 14-year-old US youths; (2) to compare youth visits for ADHD with and without melication according to patient demographics, physician specialty, reimbursement source, and comorbid diagnoses; and (3) to compare office visits for youths with ADHD in re...