<p>There was no significant change in the frequency of office visits for patients who used an electronic messaging system through a patient portal, according to a retroactive study of 2,357 adult primary care patients at Mayo Clinic's Rochester, Minnesota location.</p><p>The data in the study was from April 2010 to August 2011.</p><p>"The portal has been promoted as a way to decrease administrative costs of appointment scheduling and handling of medication refills," researchers wrote in the report. "Patient portal secure messaging is increasingly being viewed as necessary to satisfy patient expectations and to provide a competitive advantage in the move toward accountable care."</p><p>The researchers aimed to look at a subgroup of patients who message doctors often to see if there was a correlation between more messaging and less office visits.</p><p><a href="http://mobihealthnews.com/30581/study-use-of-patient-portal-secure-messaging-does-not-impact-office-visit-frequency/">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://hitconsultant.net/2014/03/05/mayo-clinic-study-reveals-patient-portals-little-impact-face-face-visits/">Mayo Clinic Study Reveals Patient Portals Had Little Impact on Face to Face Visits</a> (HIT Consultant)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=d2ZqBCoYHR7mZrMtu1MeFVSxP5ruM&authuser=0&ned=us">2 additional articles.</a></p>