Patient Digital Engagement With After Visit Summary in Ambulatory Care

What factors are associated with patient engagement with the digital after visit summary (AVS) following an ambulatory care visit, and what is the time cost to physicians?In this cross-sectional study of 6 262 623 ambulatory care visits, digital AVS engagement increased from 20.8% in 2018 to 37.6% in 2023 and was more likely when physicians included personalized patient instructions and among married, female, and retired English-speaking patients in the primary care and urgent care settings. Physicians spent a median time of 1.38 minutes per visit authoring instructions, with differences according to composition strategy and specialty.The study finding that digital AVS engagement increased over time but remained low highlights a critical inefficiency in postvisit communication.

Corresponding Author: Ryan Thomas Halvorson, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143 (ryan.halvorson@ucsf.edu).

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