TY - JOUR AU - Judson, Timothy J AU - Subash, Meera AU - Harrison, James D AU - Yeager, Jan AU - Williams, Aimée M AU - Grouse, Carrie K AU - Byron, Maria PY - 2023 DA - 2023/5/26 TI - Patient Perceptions of e-Visits: Qualitative Study of Older Adults to Inform Health System Implementation JO - JMIR Aging SP - e45641 VL - 6 KW - e-visit KW - patient portal message KW - digital health tool KW - patient portal KW - perception KW - attitude KW - qualitative KW - e-consult KW - remote care KW - remote visit KW - remote consult KW - vulnerable KW - messaging KW - telehealth KW - telemedicine KW - eHealth AB - Background: Electronic visits (e-visits) are billable, asynchronous patient-initiated messages that require at least five minutes of medical decision-making by a provider. Unequal use of patient portal tools like e-visits by certain patient populations may worsen health disparities. To date, no study has attempted to qualitatively assess perceptions of e-visits in older adults. Objective: In this qualitative study, we aimed to understand patient perceptions of e-visits, including their perceived utility, barriers to use, and care implications, with a focus on vulnerable patient groups. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using in-depth structured individual interviews with patients from diverse backgrounds to assess their knowledge and perceptions surrounding e-visits as compared with unbilled portal messages and other visit types. We used content analysis to analyze interview data. Results: We conducted 20 interviews, all in adults older than 65 years. We identified 4 overarching coding categories or themes. First, participants were generally accepting of the concept of e-visits and willing to try them. Second, nearly two-thirds of the participants voiced a preference for synchronous communication. Third, participants had specific concerns about the name “e-visit” and when to choose this type of visit in the patient portal. Fourth, some participants indicated discomfort using or accessing technology for e-visits. Financial barriers to the use of e-visits was not a common theme. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that older adults are generally accepting of the concept of e-visits, but uptake may be limited due to their preference for synchronous communication. We identified several opportunities to improve e-visit implementation. SN - 2561-7605 UR - https://aging.jmir.org/2023/1/e45641 UR - https://doi.org/10.2196/45641 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37234031 DO - 10.2196/45641 ID - info:doi/10.2196/45641 ER -