Empty Patient Portals Are Costing You Money
Picture this: You've just spent $15,000 on a fancy patient portal. The sales team promised it would change everything. Six months in, and only 18% of your patients have bothered to log in. Meanwhile, your phone lines are still ringing off the hook with people asking for information that's sitting right there in the portal.
If this sounds like your practice, you're far from alone. Industry data shows 70% of healthcare practices struggle with portal adoption rates under 30%. But what most administrators don't realize is that these underperforming portals aren't just wasted investments—they're actively draining your practice's resources.
Dr. Jennifer Walsh runs a busy family practice in Austin. She learned this lesson the hard way. "We figured the portal was just something nice to have," she told us. "It took actually calculating the staff time we were losing to realize it was costing us $8,000 a year in questions patients could answer themselves."
Why Low Adoption Rates Hurt More Than You Think
Patient portals get sold as efficiency tools. The idea is simple: give patients online access to records, appointments, and test results, and they'll stop calling your office. But when adoption stays low, the numbers work against you.
The Real Cost of Non-Adoption
Let's break down the math for a typical primary care practice with 2,500 active patients. If you're getting 15-20 portal-related calls per day, and each one takes 5 minutes of staff time (including documentation), that's 75-100 minutes of medical assistant time daily.
Annual breakdown:
- 75 minutes × 250 working days = 18,750 minutes per year
- 18,750 minutes ÷ 60 = 312.5 hours annually
- 312.5 hours × $25/hour average MA wage = $7,812.50
And this doesn't count:
- Doctor time spent answering portal questions during visits
- Administrative work managing portal communications
- The opportunity cost of staff handling repetitive tasks
The worst part: These calls usually come during your busiest times, making wait times longer and patients more frustrated.
What Patients Really Think About Portals
Conventional thinking says patients avoid portals because they're not tech-savvy or worried about privacy. But after talking to 500+ practices, we've found different reasons.
The Three Main Barriers
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"I Don't Know How to Use It" - 45% of non-users
- Patients get login info but no real training
- Complex interfaces scare off first-time users
- No one in the office has time to walk them through it
-
"Calling Is Just Easier" - 32% of non-users
- Phone calls feel more personal and immediate
- Patients doubt they'll get quick answers online
- They don't trust their own computer skills
-
"I Forgot It Existed" - 23% of non-users
- Initial interest fades without follow-up
- No reminders or reasons to come back
- It becomes just another forgotten login in their digital life
The Per-Patient Cost
Every patient who skips your portal adds up:
Annual cost per non-user:
- 4 calls about appointments × 3 minutes each = 12 minutes
- 6 calls about test results × 4 minutes each = 24 minutes
- 2 calls about prescriptions × 5 minutes each = 10 minutes
- Total: 46 minutes per patient per year
At $25/hour for MA time: $19.17 per non-adopting patient annually.
For a 2,500-patient practice at 25% adoption: 1,875 non-users × $19.17 = $35,943 in annual costs.
This is money going to maintain the status quo instead of growing your practice.
How Top Practices Hit 70%+ Adoption
The practices that succeed don't see this as a tech problem—they see it as a change management challenge. Here's what they do differently.
Phase 1: Build Internal Confidence (Weeks 1-2)
Get Your Team On Board First
- Train every staff member before expecting patients to use it
- Create consistent messaging about portal benefits
- Have doctors demonstrate it during visits
Set Up the Tech Properly
- Simplify the registration process
- Make sure it works perfectly on mobile devices (80% of access happens there)
- Test that it integrates with your EHR system
Phase 2: Get Patients Started (Weeks 3-8)
Make It Personal
- Offer to set up portals during appointments
- Help entire families get online at once
- Follow up within 48 hours of giving out login info
Create Reasons to Use It
- Send portal links with appointment reminders
- Notify patients when test results are ready online
- Alert them when prescriptions are ready to pick up
Phase 3: Keep the Momentum (Weeks 9-12+)
Stay Engaged
- Send monthly emails about new portal features
- Share anonymous success stories from patients
- Ask what additional features they want
Reward Usage
- Run contests for portal users
- Highlight "portal champions" in your newsletter
- Give scheduling priority to online users
Real Results from Denver
Dr. Maria Sanchez runs a pediatric practice in Denver. After implementing these strategies, her adoption rate jumped from 22% to 73% in just 14 weeks.
What changed:
- Patient calls dropped 60% (from 45 to 18 per day)
- Staff satisfaction went up (fewer repetitive questions)
- Patient satisfaction scores improved by 15 points
- Annual savings: $42,000 in staff time
- Portal ROI: 380% in year one
"The portal paid for itself three times over," she said. "But the best part was happier patients and less stressed staff."
Calculate Your Practice's Savings
Use this simple framework to estimate your potential savings:
Step 1: Assess Your Current Situation
Active patients: ________
Current adoption rate: ________%
Daily portal calls: ________
Average call length: ________ minutes
MA hourly rate: ________
Step 2: Calculate Current Costs
Non-users = Total patients × (1 - adoption rate)
Annual wasted minutes = Non-users × 46 minutes
Annual cost = Wasted minutes ÷ 60 × hourly rate
Step 3: Project Future Savings
Target adoption: ________% (aim for 70%+)
Remaining non-users = Total patients × (1 - target rate)
New annual cost = Remaining non-users × 46 minutes ÷ 60 × hourly rate
Annual savings = Current cost - new cost
Example for a 2,500-Patient Practice
Current situation: 25% adoption, $25/hour MA rate
- Current annual cost: $35,943
- At 70% adoption: $14,438 annual cost
- Annual savings: $21,505
- Plus savings on portal licensing fees
Your 90-Day Action Plan
Month 1: Lay the Groundwork
Weeks 1-2: Prepare Internally
- Get all staff trained and confident
- Create patient education materials
- Set up tracking systems
- Goal: Staff comfort level above 8/10
Weeks 3-4: Spread the Word
- Send intro letters to all patients
- Put up waiting room signs
- Update your website
- Goal: 100% patient awareness
Month 2: Drive Adoption
Weeks 5-8: Personal Outreach
- Offer setup help during visits
- Follow up with everyone who hasn't signed up
- Create support groups
- Goal: 50% adoption rate
Weeks 9-12: Optimize and Improve
- Study usage patterns
- Add requested features
- Simplify the process
- Goal: User satisfaction above 4/5 stars
Month 3: Scale and Maintain
Weeks 13-16: Add Advanced Features
- Enable appointment scheduling
- Allow prescription renewals
- Turn on secure messaging
- Goal: 70% adoption rate
Weeks 17-20: Build Habits
- Start regular communication campaigns
- Collect and share success stories
- Set up feedback systems
- Goal: Self-sustaining growth
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake #1: Launch and Forget
Many practices do a big rollout then move on. Fix: Treat this as an ongoing effort, not a one-time event.
Mistake #2: Tech-Only Focus
It's easy to get caught up in features and miss the human side. Fix: Remember this is about changing behaviors, not just adding tools.
Mistake #3: No Tracking
Without measuring progress, you can't know what works. Fix: Set clear metrics and check them weekly.
Mistake #4: Ignoring Staff Concerns
Your team might see this as extra work. Fix: Bring them into the process and show how it actually reduces their workload.
Why High Adoption Matters Now
In today's healthcare world, patient portals aren't optional—they're expected. Patients want the same digital convenience from their doctors that they get from their bank or favorite stores.
Practices with strong portal adoption see:
- Better patient retention (convenient practices keep patients longer)
- Higher satisfaction scores (faster communication, fewer hassles)
- Improved staff morale (less repetitive work)
- Stronger online reviews (patients appreciate modern practices)
Start This Week
You don't need to do everything at once. Begin with these high-impact steps:
- Run the numbers - Use the calculator above to see your current costs
- Test your portal - Does it work well on phones? Is signup simple?
- Train your team - Make sure everyone can help patients confidently
- Set a timeline - Create a 90-day plan with weekly milestones
- Start measuring - Track your baseline adoption rate
The Truth About Portal Costs
Patient portals have become essential infrastructure. But they're too expensive to leave underutilized. Practices that succeed in the digital age take portal adoption as seriously as they do clinical quality or patient safety.
The costs of empty portals are real and measurable. But so are the benefits when you get adoption right. The question isn't whether you can afford to invest in activation—it's whether you can afford not to.
Your patients already expect digital convenience. The question is whether your practice will deliver it or let competitors do it first.
Ready to turn your patient portal into a revenue-generating asset? Genkō's patient engagement platform includes proven activation strategies and ongoing support to help practices achieve 70%+ adoption rates. Contact our team to learn how we can help unlock your portal's full potential.
This article is part of our Healthcare Digital Transformation series. Next up: "The Patient Experience Revolution: How Digital Tools Are Reshaping Healthcare Delivery".
