ArticleJAMA network open2025
Patient-Friendly Test Results and Patient-Initiated Messaging Among Adult Outpatients.
Article in JAMA network open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patient Experiences With Online Laboratory Test Presentations From Access to Activation: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of Health Care Policies on Patient Portal Adoption and Engagement in US Hospitals: Trends From 2012 to 2024.Advances in health information science and practice · 2026Article
- Obesity Medications Beyond Glucose Control and Weight Reduction: Updates on the Expanding Benefits, Clinical Challenges, and Future Directions.Current hypertension reports · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Importance: Patients have access to test results but often struggle with interpretation due to limited context. Helping patients understand their results is essential for engagement and may reduce unnecessary messages requesting explanation. Objective: To test the hypothesis that releasing test results in a patient-friendly educational format would reduce rates of patient-initiated messaging. Design, Setting, and Participants: This quality improvement study using an interrupted time series design with preintervention and postintervention evaluation was performed at a single academic medical center that implemented patient-friendly presentation of test results through a patient portal for results with the highest message volumes, including basic metabolic panel, comprehensive metabolic panel, complete blood cell count, thyroid panel or thyrotropin level, urine microalbumin tests, and selected microbial, antibody, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Participants included adults who received outpatient test results via a patient portal from January 1 to December 31, 2024. Exposures: Educational format messaging. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the proportion of results reviewed by patients followed by a patient-initiated message within 24 hours of result release. An interrupted time series was performed to estimate the association of releasing results with the new educational format with messaging. Fitted models were stratified by whether results were ordered in primary care or flagged as abnormal. Results: A total of 829 902 results were reviewed by 205 139 patients (mean [SD] age, 51.0 [17.8] years; 130 284 [63.5%] female). After introducing educational messaging, nonsignificant decreases in weekly messages (mean [SD], 2769.2 [451.7] vs 2754.0 [529.6]; P = .92) and the proportion of results with a patient-initiated message within 24 hours (87 038 of 497 651 [17.5%] vs 57 585 of 332 251 [17.3%]; P = .22) were observed. When stratified by tests ordered through primary care, a statistically significant decrease was observed in messaging (average marginal effect, -0.8% [95% CI, -1.2% to -0.5%]; P < .001). Messaging was increased for microbial, antibody, and PCR tests ordered outside primary care (average marginal effect, 2.1% [95% CI, 1.0% to 3.1%]; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: In this quality improvement study in which test results were released in a patient-friendly educational format, no clinically meaningful change in patient messaging was observed. As organizations navigate information transparency and growing message volumes, it is essential to develop, implement, and study approaches to support information needs without impacting clinical workflow.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.