best practice patient portal patient security

From a legal perspective, your practice portal must comply with usual HIPAA rules, in terms of main- taining privacy and security of patient data. However, in addition to this ob- vious requirement, your practice por- tal should provide patients with the sense that their information is secure and their records are private.

Full Answer

What is a patient portal and how does it work?

“ A patient portal is a website for your personal health care. The online tool helps you to keep track of your health care provider visits, test results, billing, prescriptions, and so on. You can also e-mail your provider questions through the portal. For access, you will need to set up an account.

What are the best security options for patient portals?

In fact, you have other options available for use in your patient portals. For example, digital signatures, and challenge-response authentication protocols could be used. A two-factor authentication process, in which you obtain a security code from your mobile phone, is another great option.

How will you convince patients to use patient portals?

If your practice uses patient portals, it’s your responsibility to convince the patients that their sensitive information is in safe hands. How will you do that? First, the patient portals should meet the criteria for meaningful use (MU) by CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. MU requires the practice to provide:

What are the requirements for a patient portal?

First, the patient portals should meet the criteria for meaningful use (MU) by CMS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. MU requires the practice to provide: A clinical summary to the patient after each visit. Secure messaging (SM) between patient and provider. Ability to view, download, and transmit personal health record data.

How do you keep patient portals secure?

Here are five ways organizations can bring their patient portal security up-to-date and keep their networks safe from unauthorized access:Portal sign-up process should be automated. ... Keep anti-virus and malware software up to date. ... Multifactor verification is a must. ... Protect patient identities with identity solutions.More items...•Mar 20, 2020

How do you improve patient portal?

Here are some ways to encourage patient enrollment:Include information about the patient portal on your organization's website.Provide patients with an enrollment link before the initial visit to create a new account.Encourage team members to mention the patient portal when patients call to schedule appointments.More items...•Jun 25, 2020

What should be done when setting up a patient portal to ensure it meets the needs of all patients?

3.1 Ensure portal access for all patientsOffer your patient portal in multiple languages.Make sure your portal is mobile-friendly, and that the pages load quickly, so that users with limited data or slow connections can still access it.More items...•Apr 17, 2019

What are the security issues associated with engaging patients through an online patient portal?

Some of these risks include: reliance on the patient portal as a sole method of patient communication; patient transmission of urgent/emergent messages via the portal; the posting of critical diagnostic results prior to provider discussions with patients; and possible security breaches resulting in HIPAA violations.Mar 1, 2021

How do you use patient portal?

If your provider offers a patient portal, you will need a computer and internet connection to use it. Follow the instructions to register for an account. Once you are in your patient portal, you can click the links to perform basic tasks. You can also communicate with your provider's office in the message center.Aug 13, 2020

Are patient portals effective?

Patient portal interventions were overall effective in improving a few psychological outcomes, medication adherence, and preventive service use. There was insufficient evidence to support the use of patient portals to improve clinical outcomes.

What is the goal of HIE?

The purpose of HIE is to promote the appropriate and secure access and retrieval of a patient's health information to improve the cost, quality, safety and speed of patient care.

Why do some patients fail to participate in the use of the patient portal?

The reason why most patients do not want to use their patient portal is because they see no value in it, they are just not interested. The portals do not properly incentivize the patient either intellectually (providing enough data to prove useful) or financially.

Is secure patient portal legit?

That's why we offer the Secure Patient Portal so you can access your health information anytime. The Secure Patient Portal is a safe and easy way for your doctor or clinic to electronically share your healthcare information with you.

What are the disadvantages of patient portals?

Even though they should improve communication, there are also disadvantages to patient portals....Table of ContentsGetting Patients to Opt-In.Security Concerns.User Confusion.Alienation and Health Disparities.Extra Work for the Provider.Conclusion.Nov 11, 2021

What are the features required for patient portal security?

Here we look at what features are required for patient portal security, and the protection and confidentiality of collected health information. Encrypted database features. En cryption allows data to be securely transmitted or stored, meaning that it is readable only by authorized persons by converting ...

How long does it take for a HIPAA patient portal to lock?

Your HIPAA patient portal should require a password to access the system, and again if there is a period of inactivity of 30 minutes. If a password is entered incorrectly too many times, it should lock user accounts.

How to regulate who has access to specific information?

Regulate who has access to specific information based on the role of each employee or user within the organization. For example, administrative staff may not need to see the same information and data as nursing staff. Consider what information each employee needs and grant access to the specific areas as required.

Who is Blake from Bridge Patient Portal?

Blake joined Bridge Patient Portal in 2016 after transferring from our parent company Medical Web Experts. Since then, he’s acted as Bridge’s Business Development Manager. Blake is passionate about driving collaboration with clients, partners, and internal teams to achieve performance goals and successful relationships.

Is a patient portal secure?

While patient portals allow information to be accessed and shared conveniently, healthcare organizations should be aware that there are several patient portal privacy and security issues. It’s the responsibility of the healthcare organization to ensure individual health information is kept private and secure.

How to protect patient portals?

Safety of Patient Portals: Extra Tips to Follow 1 See if the software for patient portals was independently tested for security readiness. Use only a HIPAA-compliant software from a reputed vendor. Update the software regularly. 2 Don’t underestimate the value of physical safeguards in reducing the risk of breaches or unauthorized access. For example, consider installing an alarm system in the building or the facility that houses the servers. 3 Make sure your staff has received proper training on explaining what patients can do to keep their health data secure. 4 Use secure online forms to collect patient information. Find more on Creating Secure Web Pages and Forms. 5 If your portal accepts online payment using a credit card, it is essential that it complies with The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Why are patient portals important?

No doubt, patient portals are highly effective in increasing patient engagement and optimizing treatment outcomes. But many patients tend to be reluctant in adopting this “new” tool as they are concerned about the security and privacy issues. The safety concerns make a lot of sense considering how hackers are increasingly attacking health data.

What is the best way to protect information?

Encrypt the information. Whether you are storing the information or sending it through the internet, encryption is strongly recommended. Encryption renders the information unreadable to those who do not have a security key. The security key is available only to the authorized persons.

What is the most powerful model of access control?

The most powerful model that controls access is Role-based access control (RBAC), or role-based security. As the name suggests, RBAC allows access to concerned persons or employees based on their need to see the information. Meaning, different employees can have different levels of access.

What is the security key?

The security key is available only to the authorized persons. With encryption, even if a hacker gets access to the data, they cannot make sense of it. Two forms of encryption are- hardware encryption and software encryption. For the highest level of security, experts recommend using both these forms.

Is a patient portal a good tool?

Patient portals are relatively new in the Health-IT arena. And as with any new tool, a mass adoption is sure to take some time. No doubt, patient portals have some security concerns. However, this does not take away the fact that they are a great tool for enhanced patient engagement. With the right policies on risk management, you can expect to attract more patients in your portal.

Is HIPAA a privacy law?

HIPAA has been instrumental in providing preliminary guidelines on the safety and privacy of health information. But HIPAA rules can stir confusion among the users . Most notably, many patients still do not know enough about their right to the medical privacy.