how to educate patient to use patient portal

^{Tips for Practice Staff}

• Teach patients about the portal while they’re waiting to see their doctors
• In the waiting room, have posters, brochures, and videos that highlight portal features. ...
• Give patients instructions for logging into the portal on a smartphone while they wait
• Set up a pre-recorded hold message or a message that plays at the end of a call that reminds patients to register
• Show patients the simple portal enrollment steps listed on their after-visit summary and encourage them to sign up

Full Answer

How can providers use the patient portal for Health Education?

•Develop a two-fold education approach to get patients to use the portal and engage in care collaboration 1. Internal education strategy which puts your entire staff on the same page. 2. External education strategy to reach the patients you …

How can patient portals boost patient engagement and patient satisfaction?

Jan 15, 2019 · January 15, 2019 - Patient health literacy and knowledge about their own medical information leaves a lot to be desired, leading to calls for better patient education about patient portal and data access, according to a survey conducted by Kelton Global on behalf of Quest Diagnostics.. The survey of about 1,000 adult patients found that only 57 percent know their …

Do online patient education tools improve patient engagement?

2. Understand how a patient portal helps achieve meaningful use requirements. 3. Implement proactive, engaging portal features. 4. meaningful use that are expected to focus on selfImplement the portal with a systematic process. 5. Actively promote and facilitate portal use. Learn the Benefits of Patient Portals

What is a portal and why do you need one?

Apr 25, 2018 · The patient portal in your optometric practice provides many benefits for your patients. With your patient portal, your patients can securely send and receive messages, schedule appointments, complete pre-appointment paperwork, receive appointment summaries, and more. There’s only one problem—getting your patients to use the patient portal.

How do you encourage patient portal?

The following strategies will help you engage your patients to use the portal.Mass enrollment. ... Get the whole office involved. ... Use every patient handout or marketing collateral as an opportunity to promote the patient portal. ... Market the benefits, not the features. ... Older patients may surprise you.More items...•May 28, 2019

How do you promote patient education?

Five strategies for patient education successTake advantage of educational technology. Technology has made patient education materials more accessible. ... Determine the patient's learning style. ... Stimulate the patient's interest. ... Consider the patient's limitations and strengths. ... Include family members in health care management.

Will use of patient portals help to educate and communicate with patients with diabetes?

Results: The majority of patients (both with and without diabetes) perceived a positive impact of using the portal. Patients with diabetes were significantly more likely to believe that having access to and reading their notes would help them take their medication better and take better care of themselves.

How do you optimize patient portals for patient engagement and meet meaningful use requirements?

Meet Meaningful Use Requirements The portal must be engaging and user- friendly, and must support patient-centered outcomes. The portal also must be integrated into clinical encounters so the care team uses it to convey information, communicate with patients, and support self-care and decision-making as indicated.

How nurses can educate patients?

Nurses should think about how they learned nursing skills. It took practice, practice, and more practice. Let your patients do the same. Demonstration, return demonstration, and “teach back, tell back” were noted to be good teaching strategies to improve learning.

Why is it important to educate your patients?

Patient education can help providers inform and remind patients of the proper ways to self-manage care and avoid nonessential readmissions. Better education can also help patients understand the care setting most appropriate for their condition and avoid unnecessary trips to the hospital.

How do patient portals improve patient engagement?

Patient portals may enhance patient engagement by enabling patients to access their electronic medical records (EMRs) and facilitating secure patient-provider communication.

What is the meaningful use program?

'Meaningful Use' is the general term for the Center of Medicare and Medicaid's (CMS's) electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs that provide financial benefits to healthcare providers who use appropriate EHR technologies in meaningful ways; ways that benefit patients and providers alike.

What is patient portal used for?

A patient portal is a secure online website that gives patients convenient, 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection. Using a secure username and password, patients can view health information such as: Recent doctor visits.Sep 29, 2017

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, ...

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.

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.

Ask

Sometimes all you have to do to get a patient to start using your patient portal is ask them. Whether you ask the patient in person or through a patient recall message, you can persuade a lot of your patients to use the portal with little effort.

Promote At Every Opportunity

Not all of your patients will be as responsive to your initial request for them to use the patient portal. For patients who are more cautious about using the portal or seem hesitant, you’ll have to promote the benefits of the portal at every opportunity.

Give Incentives

If you’re still having trouble getting patients to adopt your patient portal, another tactic you could try is using incentives. Offering incentives for patients to access your patient portal could help drive utilization and could also help you promote different benefits of the portal.

Why are patient portals important?

Research shows that when patients are able to see their own health data, they gain ownership of their own wellness and are better prepared to interact with their providers about their care.

Why do providers use patient portals?

This is mainly because providers are trying to build a relationship with their patients, not just bolster patient loyalty. For many providers, patient portal use is about building trust and enhancing care.

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, ...

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.

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 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:

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.

How to facilitate enrollment?

To facilitate enrollment, automatically enroll your patients in a portal account, instead of waiting for patients to sign up themselves. Keep enrollment numbers up by encouraging new patients to stay registered and offering tips for patients with limited computer access or skills.

What is AVS in Inova Health?

Working closely with its partners, Inova Health revised the after-visit summary (AVS) to make the benefits of EHRs salient, highlight clear action steps, and encourage immediate action. Analysis suggests that the revised instructions led to a 10% increase in the probability of online patient portal activation.

What is Mana Health?

Mana Health, a health IT developer, enables patients to sign up in a few simple steps. When a patient registers, Mana’s system uses data (like demographics and the patient’s medical record number) to match up the patient with her EHR. This automated verification system means an efficient, successful enrollment process for practices and patients.

What are some examples of lack of motivation?

Lack information or motivation — for example, they don’t have signup instructions or they feel too busy. Question the value of digital communication — for example, they think it won’t be useful or they prefer phone over email. Need computer help — for example, they don’t have computer access or skills 9.

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.