Cancer center employees—especially nurses—are putting more effort into electronic patient portals, according to analysis involving 289 individuals.

Investigators looked at the work routines of participants, including 85 nurses, 79 ancillary staff, 49 clerical/managerial staff, 47 physicians, and 29 advanced practice clinicians. Among the results:

• Overall, the group performed more than 740,000 chart actions and received nearly 118,000 messages.

• Nurses performed ~three-fourths of the actions; 11% were performed by ancillary staff, 6% by advanced practice providers, 5% by physicians, and 1% by clerical/managerial staff.

• From 2011 to 2014, staff chart activity increased ~10-fold.

• There was an average of 6.3 chart actions per patient-initiated message.

• Nurses performed an average of ~3,800 chart actions and received ~600 messages in 2014, vs ~600 actions and ~90 messages in 2011.

• 16% of actions occurred outside clinic hours.

Citation: Laccetti A, Chen B, Caio J, et al. Increase in cancer center staff effort related to electronic patient portal use. [Published online ahead of print September 6, 2016]. J Oncol Pract. doi:10.1200/JOP.2016.011817.