Evidence from 2023–2025 shows that there is no single verified age cutoff. Preference depends more on the task than on age alone.
Healthcare organizations often want to know the minimum age at which patients stop preferring websites or automated systems and start preferring the phone. Recent evidence does not support a precise age threshold. Instead, the systems and start preferring the phone. Recent evidence does not support a precise age threshold. Instead, the systems and start preferring the phone. Recent evidence does not support a precise age threshold. Instead, the best-supported conclusion is that as patients get older, especially within the 50–80 and 65+ populations, the phone remains especially important for interactive access tasks such as scheduling, asking questions, and requesting referrals.
The strongest recent task-level source is the 2023 University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. Among adults age 50–80 who had used a patient portal, respondents said the phone was better than the portal for scheduling appointments (42% phone vs. 34% portal), asking a question (45% vs. 36%), and requesting a referral (46% vs. 30%). Those findings suggest that even older adults who already use digital tools still value live interaction when a task 30%). Those findings suggest that even older adults who already use digital tools still value live interaction when a task involves coordination, clarification, or reassurance.
That same poll also showed that digital channels remain strong for more transactional or document-based tasks. Respondents preferred the portal for getting test results (79% portal vs. 9% phone), authorizing others to access records (61% vs. 20%), and requesting transfer of medical records to another provider (52% vs. 29%). So for medical-records activity, the evidence points to continued demand for digital self-service rather than a broad shift back to the phone.
A 2025 JMIR Human Factors study using U.S. National Health Interview Survey data reinforces the age effect for scheduling. It found that adults age 56–85 were significantly less likely than adults 18–35 to use the internet to schedule appointments. This supports the idea that digital scheduling use declines with age, but it still does not identify a single minimum age at which preference definitively flips from digital to phone.
Recent national data also show why a simple age cutoff would be misleading. An ASTP/ONC 2024 data brief reported that 65% of individuals who were offered patient-portal access used it in 2024, and caregiver or proxy access through portals was also common. In addition, a 2024 JMIR Aging study found lower portal and video-visit use among adults age 76–85 than among those age 65–75, while still recommending that health systems maintain nondigital options, including phone support. Together, these findings show that digital adoption remains substantial among older adults, even while phone support becomes more important with advancing age.
For bill payment, the current evidence base is not strong enough to support a firm conclusion that older patients prefer the phone over online payment. The more defensible position is that payment behavior is mixed and influenced by convenience, trust, and provider workflow design. The safest overall conclusion is this: there is no verified minimum age, but recent evidence suggests that healthcare organizations should preserve strong phone access for scheduling and other conversational tasks, while continuing to optimize websites and portals for records, results, and administrative self-service.
Sources (2023–2025)
• University of Michigan, National Poll on Healthy Aging. “Use and Experiences with Patient Portals Among Older Adults.” May 24, 2023.
• JMIR Human Factors. “Examining Individuals’ Use of the Internet for Health Care Activities Over Time: Results from the US National Health Interview Survey.” 2025.
• ASTP/ONC Data Brief. “Individuals’ Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2024.”
• JMIR Aging. “Examining Whether Patient Portal and Video Visit Use Differs by Race and Ethnicity Among Older Adults in a US Integrated Health Care Delivery System.” 2024.
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