Even when enrolled in digital health portals, many cancer patients from minority and underserved backgrounds are less likely to communicate with their oncology providers, according to a new study of over 100,000 patients.
Researchers found that patients who were Latinx, Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian/Alaska Native were significantly less likely to send messages to their cancer care teams. The same was true for those who preferred a non-English language, were single or widowed, or had Medicaid or Medicare instead of private insurance.
The disparities extended to receiving messages as well. Patients from these groups were also less likely to receive the first message in a communication thread from their providers. This matters, researchers noted, because previous studies have linked patient portal messaging with better survival outcomes in cancer care.
Women were more likely to send messages than men, and patients with female providers were more likely to both send and receive messages. But age also played a role—patients over 50 were less likely to engage through the portal than younger adults.
These findings suggest that simply enrolling patients in digital health tools is not enough. “Disparities existed in sending and receiving portal messages,” the authors concluded, calling for future research to address these gaps in communication that may be contributing to unequal cancer outcomes.
See “Disparities in Patient Portal Messaging Among Oncology Patients Enrolled in the Patient Portal” (July 9, 2025)
