Table 1.

Site characteristics

Characteristic	Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Site 4	Site 5
Location	Southern California	Southern California	Northern California	Northern California	Northern California
Enrollment and usea	Over 70% given access per month; over 25% used portal per month	73% issued token; 12% enrolled and sent a secure message	1500 enrolled per month; ∼20 secure messages received per month	62% given access per month; 60–70% of enrolled have sent ≥1 secure message	6500 given access; 6% enrolled; 46% of enrolled patients requested medical records
Patient portal features	Medical history; test results; secure messaging; viewing appointments; appointment scheduling; health education	Medical history; test results; appointment scheduling; prescription refills; health education	Medical history; test results; secure messaging; viewing appointments; appointment requests	Medical history; test results; secure messaging; billing statements; non-urgent appointment requests; viewing appointments; health history forms	Medical history; test results; secure messaging; appointment requests
EHR vendor	NextGen	NextGen	NextGen	eClinicalWorks	NextGen
Roles of participants	Operations management team (IT, operations, compliance, revenue, call center, etc.); clinic manager; assistant medical director; front desk manager; front desk staff	Chief medical officer; chief medical information officer; nurse practitioner; chief operating officer; program coordinator; director of quality and health education; program director; portal coordinator	Nurse midwife; medical assistant; RN; front desk staff; chief medical officer; portal coordinators; librarian; physician assistant; chief medical officer	Clinical support services manager; medical director; IT director; director of customer service; director of operations; front desk staff; RN; office manager; innovation officer	Program development coordinator
Health systemb	5 clinics; 60 000 patients; approximately 200 000 visits per year	13 clinics; 60 000 patients	3 clinics; 13 426 patients; 30 clinicians; 170 staff	6 clinics; 13 000–15 000 patients	5 clinics; 3500 monthly average visits
Patient populationb	83% at or below 100% federal poverty level (FPL); 35% of patient population has limited English proficiency	96% at or below 200% FPL; 62% Medicaid, 36% uninsured	98% at or below 200% FPL; 51% Medicaid, 40% uninsured; 94% Latino, African American, or Pacific Islander; 30%+ born outside United States	85% under 200% FPL; 46% Medicaid, 18% uninsured; majority are white; 25% monolingual Spanish	86% at or below 200% FPL; 95% non-native English-speaking Chinese immigrants; 65% aged 60+

^a“Given access” is defined as having a formal record of offering a patient the opportunity to enroll in the patient portal, regardless of whether the offer was accepted or declined; “issued token” is defined as having sent a patient an e-mail with information about how to set up a portal account; percentages represent the proportion of unique patients seen in clinic.

^bParticipating health systems were asked to provide detailed information about their clinical operations and patient populations. Variations in their responses are reflected in the information reported here.