Objective To evaluate the patterns of e-Health use over a four-year period, and the characteristics of users.

Design Longitudinal, population study (1999-2002) of members of a prepaid integrated delivery system (IDS). Available e-Health services included ordering prescription drug refills, scheduling appointments, and asking medical questions.

Measurements Rates of subjects with known access to e-Health services, and of subjects who used services each quarter.

Results Members with known e-Health access increased from 51,336 (1.6%) in 1999 to 324,522 (9.3%), in 2002. The percentage of households in which at least one person in the household had access increased from 2.7% to 14.1%. Among the subjects with known access, the percentage of subjects that used e-Health at least once increased from 25.7% in 1999 to 36.2% in 2002. In the multivariate analysis, subjects who had a low expected clinical need, were non-white, or lived in low socio-economic status (SES) neighborhoods were significantly less likely to have used e-Health services in 2002. Disparities by race/ethnicity and SES persisted after controlling for access to e-health, and grew over time.

Conclusions Access to and use of e-Health services are growing rapidly. Use of these services appears to be greatest among persons with more medical need. The majority of subjects, however, do not use any e-Health services. More research is needed to determine potential reasons for disparities in e-health use by race/ethnicity and SES, as well as the implications of these disparities on clinical outcomes.