Chris,
I think several factors may be in play for achieving the 30%. My nurse functions as the "receptionist" to a large degree, and we tag team educate the portalized patient, with the following logic. You call, you get our front office gal, and likely get channeled to voice mail, which is usually handled when my nurse has a few minutes to take care of the multiple batched calls. You message us, and it pops up on my nurse's computer screen(s)*, and in real time easier, quicker and more efficient use of everyones' time.
Most of my portal message appointment requests are for same day or semi-urgent, with in a few days of messaging to rooming appointments.
Once patients get use to the idea, they generally rarely use the phone for other issues, such as refills, and simple questions, the true receptionist would not be able to handle anyway.
The downside is that when my nurse is out, the operation is quite crippled, but I can take on quite a bit of the Updox traffic at that point to absorb the float nurse from being overwhelmed
*Sandeep--I have not gotten DisplayFusion yet, but plan to
