Patient portal adoption and active use is accelerating dramatically across the U.S., driven by Stage 2 MU requirements, scheduled to begin in October 2013 for hospitals and January 2014 for physicians.
"As healthcare reform and transformation advances, providers will seek new ways to engage patients and influence behavior beyond the point of care and will increasingly look to the more advanced solutions that are proven to consistently motivate patient compliance and sustained behavioral change," said Nancy Fabozzi, connected health principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
To meet such demand, a crop of solutions that Faboozi dubbed Patient Portal 2.0 is emerging, replete with functionality for health information exchange, integration of clinical and financial data, e-visits, as well as an array of Web 2.0 capabilities such as social networking, gaming, and avatars that serve as personalized health coaches.
[Q&A: Mostashari talks team-based care in exit interview.]
According to a Frost & Sullivan report the patient portal market is poised to absolutely boom — and the firm is predicting it will soar to nearly $900 million by 2017, from $279.8 million just last year, marking a 221 percent spike.
The study, "U.S. Patient Portal Market for Hospitals and Physicians: Overview and Outlook, 2012–2017," also found that the majority of revenue will primarily result from increased demand driven by myriad forces including the need to meet Stage 2 meaningful use requirements, the growing move to clinical integration and accountable care, and increasing consumer demand for health information technology.
Approximately 50 percent of U.S. hospitals and 40 percent of U.S. physicians in ambulatory practice possess some type of patient portal technology, mostly acquired as a module of their practice management or electronic health record system, according to the study.
While the availability of patient portals does not necessarily translate into active provider or patient use, the technology is emerging as the key platform for various efforts around patient engagement such as access to medical records, communication with providers, education, wellness tracking and e-visits.
Stage 2 MU requires providers to adopt and use technology that allows patients to electronically view, download and transmit electronic copies of their own medical records. Patient portals are the key technology that will help providers meet these requirements. In addition, providers that adopt patient portals will enjoy a competitive advantage as patients increasingly demand convenient, 24/7 access to their financial and clinical data.
[Podcast: Preparing for patient protals under Stage 2 
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"The need to fully engage patients as a member of the care team is fundamentally about encouraging individuals to become more involved with their healthcare, so they will be motivated to make behavioral changes that can positively impact their health status," Faboozi said. "That need will only grow as the healthcare system moves towards accountable care and value-based reimbursement. The importance of this movement cannot be underestimated."
The majority of healthcare providers have to date primarily adopted patient portals that are built in or added on as a module to their PM or EHR system — the considered to be "Patient Portal 1.0."
As the cadre of solutions available today are not capable of providing the advanced interoperability and functionality needed to support clinical integration, accountable care and ongoing and sustainable patient engagement, significant disruption is forecast in the years to come.
This article was originally published on Healthcare IT News.
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