Patients not using medical record portals

Although patient portals often have a lot of valuable features, patients' use of the portals are declining at surprising rates, according to an American Medical Association blog post.

One study, published in Health Affairs, found that 63 percent of insured adults who visited a healthcare provider in the past 12 months had not used a portal during the preceding year. Additionally, 40 percent of patients in the study reported not being offered a portal.

Below are the top five reasons why patients skip on portals, according to the study:

Prefer to speak directly to with physician: 70 percent.
No need to use the portal: 57 percent.
No online medical record: 32 percent.
No internet access: 25 percent.
Privacy concerns: 22 percent.