can i send email to a patient to tell them about our patient portal

by Austen Luettgen 5 min read

Guidance on the Use of Email Containing PHI | Health ...

25 hours ago Nov 23, 2021 · An email message to a patient encouraging them to visit your patient portal is probably innocuous enough to go out as a non-encrypted email. We strongly recommend you have documentation of consent to send any email to patients before sending even an email like the one you describe. >> Go To The Portal


Pull the email addresses for any patients who haven’t enrolled in your patient portal and then upload them into the system (you'll need to verify your patient portal has a bulk upload feature). Then send a series of emails to the patients encouraging them to pick a username and password.

Full Answer

Can a patient send their own information via email?

Nov 23, 2021 · An email message to a patient encouraging them to visit your patient portal is probably innocuous enough to go out as a non-encrypted email. We strongly recommend you have documentation of consent to send any email to patients before sending even an email like the one you describe.

How do I enroll in the patient portal?

Patients can send their own information in any way that they deem appropriate, including via unencrypted email. Patient communication is best done through MyChart, but we recognize that not all patients use MyChart. Before responding to a patient’s email, it is important to verify that the email is in fact from the patient.

What is the purpose of patient portal?

Feb 04, 2022 · 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. Many providers now offer patient portals. For access, you will need to set up an account.

How do providers get in touch with Me?

At your next visit, tell the staff you would like access to My Portal (Patient Portal). The staff will request your email address, and may have you complete a consent form. Within 30 minutes, you will receive an email invitation with a link to enroll. Just click on the link and follow the instructions to complete your enrollment.

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How do you promote a patient portal?

Seven tips on how to promote your patient portal Add a tag line to appointment cards, statements, newsletters, and other communication. An example: “Tired of playing phone tag? Sign up for the patient portal.” Change your practice's on-hold messaging to include information introducing the patient portal.

Can you share patient information?

Answer: Yes. The Privacy Rule allows covered health care providers to share protected health information for treatment purposes without patient authorization, as long as they use reasonable safeguards when doing so. These treatment communications may occur orally or in writing, by phone, fax, e-mail, or otherwise.Nov 3, 2003

How do I send a message on patient portal?

0:050:49Patient Portal – How to Send a Direct Message to Your Provider?YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipOnce you go ahead and select a subject go ahead and type in your messages. And go ahead and hit sendMoreOnce you go ahead and select a subject go ahead and type in your messages. And go ahead and hit send message that will send the message to the necessary recipient.

Are patient portals confidential?

Yes, many patient portals are secure as they have security and privacy safeguards to keep your information protected. To ensure your data remains protected from any unauthorized access, these healthcare portals are hosted on a secure connection and can be accessed via a password-protected login.Nov 11, 2021

Can you email lab results under HIPAA?

Yes. The Privacy Rule allows covered health care providers to communicate electronically, such as through e-mail, with their patients, provided they apply reasonable safeguards when doing so. See 45 C.F.R. § 164.530(c).Dec 15, 2008

What would you do if a patient requested information over the phone?

When documenting a telephone call, you should: Include your own name or initials. When a patient calls with a medical question, you should: Document the patient's information and relay it to the doctor for review.

Can you send message on a portal?

Yes, here's how you can use Facebook's messaging app and video-calling devices together. You can use a Facebook Portal device with Messenger to call certain contacts. Not all features of the Messenger chat app are available on Portal devices.Nov 27, 2020

How do you reply to a message in patient portal?

Read and Reply to a Patient Portal Message Double-click on a portal message on the Messaging queue to open it. Inside the portal message protocol, you can read the full text of the portal message, review any attachments, and type a response and send it to the family member.Jul 1, 2021

How do I send a patient a message in Athena?

To send a secure message, create a new patient case and select 'Patient Portal' as the Source/Recipient. Enter your message in the 'Case Description' field and click 'Save' to send. A secure message was sent to a patient not seen during the reporting period.

What does Hipaa have to say about patient portals?

Patient portals contain information that constitutes electronic protected health information (ePHI) under the HIPAA Security Rule. ... Patient portal apps and software must be secure, or be rendered secure.Sep 9, 2019

What are the disadvantages of a patient portal?

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

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 to access a patient portal?

With a patient portal: 1 You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day. You do not need to wait for office hours or returned phone calls to have basic issues resolved. 2 You can access all of your personal health information from all of your providers in one place. If you have a team of providers, or see specialists regularly, they can all post results and reminders in a portal. Providers can see what other treatments and advice you are getting. This can lead to better care and better management of your medicines. 3 E-mail reminders and alerts help you to remember things like annual checkups and flu shots.

What are the benefits of a patient portal?

Expand Section. With a patient portal: You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day . You do not need to wait for office hours or returned phone calls to have basic issues resolved. You can access all of your personal health information from all ...

How much does an e-visit cost?

For minor issues, such as a small wound or rash, you can get diagnosis and treatment options online. This saves you a trip to the provider's office. E-visits cost around $30.

Conveniently Manage Your Health Care

My Portal (Patient Portal) provides you with online access to your medical information on a convenient and secure site. View your personal health records, clinical summaries, laboratory and imaging results, as well as instructions and education specific to your care.

Connecting My Portal With Other Apps

Dignity Health is committed to providing the tools you need to better manage your health. If you’re enrolled in our My Portal patient portal, you’ll soon have the ability to connect select health management apps to your personal health information. To learn more, click here.

General Enrollment FAQs

Questions regarding specific medical records should be directed to our Health Information Management (HIM) department. General clinic questions should be directed to our office. Technical assistance is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at (877) 621-8014.

Why is patient portal important?

Patient portals can be great tools for engaging your patients, and can even help save you time when patients use secure messaging. Still, getting your practice’s patient portal set-up and actually getting patients to use it are two entirely different challenges.

What is the challenge of stage 2?

While stage 2 has 20 core objectives, arguably the most challenging ones are: 1) 50% of your patients must be able to access their health information online in a timely manner, and 2) more than 5% of patients must actually engage providers’ patient portals. Not only do your patients need to be enrolled in your patient portal, ...

Is patient portal a project?

Adopting a patient portal is a huge project, and it’s likely to need some tweaking and updating after your first launch. If you add a new feature (like, say appointment scheduling) or update the layout to make it more user-friendly, make sure you advertise these changes to your patients. A patient who initially logged on and was frustrated by bugs or a difficult layout might be encouraged by news of an updated design.

Can you schedule an appointment online?

If a patient calls in to schedule an appointment, have the receptionist explain that next time they can schedule an appointment online, and even receive appointment reminders by email. When patients are checking out, make sure staff say they’ll be able to pay their bills online.

Connecting My Portal With Other Apps

Dignity Health Medical Foundation - Woodland and Davis is committed to providing the tools you need to better manage your health. If you’re enrolled in our My Portal patient portal, you’ll soon have the ability to connect select health management apps to your personal health information. To learn more, click here .

General Enrollment FAQs

What is My Portal (Patient Portal)?#N#My Portal (Patient Portal) is a website that allows you a convenient and secure way to view portions of your medical records and in some locations communicate with participating provider’s health care team. Within your My Portal account, you will be able to do the following:

What is the PHMG strategy?

PHMG had a strategy of ensuring that patients hear about the portal from multiple sources during each clinical visit. To execute this strategy, PHMG used several methods of communication, including:

When did PHMG start patient portal?

PHMG launched the patient portal in early 2010. As a first step, the physician champion piloted the portal for about 6 months before it was implemented in one clinic at a time. According to the physician champion, implementation was “easier than expected because everyone was already comfortable with eClinicalWorks, ...

Is the portal easy to use?

It’s really very easy to use. If you use the Internet, you’ll most likely find the portal helpful and easy to navigate. They found that it is particularly persuasive when providers encourage patients to use the portal because patients trust providers and value their opinions.

What are the challenges of the portal?

One major challenge with the portal is the multiple step registration process . Patients provide their e‐mail address at the front desk and are given a password to register from home. Some patients fail to complete the registration process after leaving the clinic. Remembering and managing passwords and managing family accounts are also challenging for patients. For example, a parent may log in for one child and then ask questions about a second child. For providers and staff, a challenge is that there is no way to know whether a Web‐enabled patient actually uses the portal and there are no read receipts to confirm that patients have read a message.

When did PHMG implement EHR?

In 2007 PHMG implemented an EHR system, eClinicalWorks, as part of a strategy to improve quality of care and facilitate coordination of care across its multiple clinic locations. In preparing for implementation, PHMG proceeded with:

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