impact of patient portal

According to our research, patients using the portal reported feeling:

• more in control over their medical condition;
• they had access to information and access to the people they needed to consult; and,
• more confident, less intimidated, and closer to their physician.

Full Answer

How does patient portal implementation improve quality of patient care?

Patient Portal Implementation Improves Quality of Patient Care and Strengthens Preventive Care Spring 2011 Dover, Delaware About Dover Family Physicians Dover Family Physicians adopted an electronic health record (EHR) system in 2008 with a goal of improving the quality of patient care and especially strengthening preventive care services.

Do health information technology portals improve outcomes?

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act imposes pressure on health care organizations to qualify for “Meaningful Use”. It is assumed that portals should increase patient participation in medical decisions, but whether or not the use of portals improves outcomes remains to be seen.

What do we know about patient portal adoption?

Eligible studies were primary studies reporting on the impact of patient portal adoption in relation to health outcomes, health care efficiency, and patient attitudes and satisfaction. We excluded studies where portals were not accessible for patients and pilot studies, with the exception of articles evaluating patient attitudes. Results

What is an example of an effective patient portal?

Some of the most effective examples refer to patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and depression, specifically when the portal is included in a shared health care pathway [9-13].

What impact do health care portals have on patients and patient care?

What are the benefits of patient portals?

What are the benefits and challenges of using patient portals?

What are the disadvantages of a patient portal?

How do patient portals improve patient outcomes?

Are patient portals effective?

What are the advantages of patient portals to the patient and to the healthcare facility quizlet?

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

What are the disadvantages of accessing your health care online?

Can you think of any potential disadvantages of patients using the patient portal system within the EHR justify your answer?

What are some of the potential negative effects of allowing a client to read their own record?

Why is educational content important for patients?

Educational content hosted on patient portals can make it easier for patients to take a more active role in their care. They can have access to relevant information about their conditions, medications, all in one place on the Internet. Patients no longer have to sift through a stack of pamphlets just to get the information they need.

Why is patient engagement important?

Engaged patients have better health outcomes, are more satisfied with their care, and are more likely to return to the organization in the future. Educational content hosted on patient portals can make it easier for patients to take a more active role ...

Can a patient have access to their own medical records?

Now, patients can take a much more active role in their care by having nearly instant access to their own medical records. In the past, a patient had to get medical records by showing up to the doctor’s office and asking them for a copy. Now, most of the information is digitized. But that’s not all patient portals can do.

How to get the most value from an EHR?

To get the most value from an EHR, practices will need to invest time in training and preparation. Some customization of the system will likely be needed based on how the practice functions and the individual work styles of the various providers.

What are the limitations of EHR?

The limitations of the EHR and the patient portal have presented challenges, such as the inability to send clinical summaries to patients via the portal. The practice can only move ahead with certain aspects of patient and family engagement as quickly as the system is upgraded.

When did Dover Family Physicians adopt EHR?

Dover Family Physicians adopted an electronic health record (EHR) system in 2008 with a goal of improving the quality of patient care and especially strengthening preventive care services. The practice has focused on ways to use the EHR to engage patients and their family members in their health and healthcare through a patient portal implementation. The practice, located in Dover, Delaware, has four physicians and two physician assistants, and provides primary care to more than 800 patients weekly.

What happens when patients cannot communicate in real time?

When patients cannot communicate in real time, providers can miss opportunities to identify nonadherence. Thus, there is heavy focus on designing portals and apps similar to MyMeds, which incorporates bidirectional communication between providers and patients.

What is mobile health?

Mobile health (mHealth) is a means of providing health services or information via portals or applications (apps) on wireless devices, such as smartphones or tablets. Patient portals are secure websites that help patients access their health information at their convenience. Many patient portals are mobile enabled via a web-based platform ...

What is mHealth communication?

Communication generally takes the form of secure messaging such as live chat or e-mail among patients and providers , including primary care and specialist physicians, pharmacists, and many others.

Is a patient portal a form of mHealth?

Many patient portals are mobile enabled via a web-based platform and are therefore considered a form of mHealth. Patient-focused mHealth apps—software or programs stored directly on the mobile device—can provide an opportunity for patient-initiated health or disease management.

How does a patient portal help?

Among them, patient portals are recognized as a promising mechanism to support greater patient engagement by increasing communication between patients and providers , and enabling patients to make competent and well-informed decisions. Empowered by the rapid development of health information technology and facilitated by the US federal government (e.g., the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which authorized incentive payments to physicians who demonstrated “meaningful use” of health information systems [ 2 ]), patient portals are now widely available and increasingly being adopted by patients and providers.

What is UF Health?

The study was conducted at UF Health, a medical network associated with the University of Florida (UF). The UF Health network includes two academic hospitals and several other hospitals and facilities in North Central Florida. In 2011, UF Health started offering “MyUFHealth,” also known as MyChart® by Epic®. MyUFHealth is an electronic patient portal that provides patients a secure and convenient way to access portions of their medical records (e.g., released test results, after visit summary), communication with the clinical service providers using secure messaging, request prescription refills, and management of outpatient appointments. MyUFHealth is available to patients who are seen in the UF Health network at Gainesville or Jacksonville hospitals and physician outpatient practices. MyUFHealth pediatric proxy for children under 18 years old is also available and can be established in the UF Health Physicians clinics. Proxy access allows a parent (or guardian) to log into their personal MyUFHealth account, and then connect to the MyUFHealth account of their child. Therefore, children under 18 years old can also be portal users in this study.

Is the data from the current study publicly available?

The datasets analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the protocol. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with the permission of UF IRB.

How many benefits do portals provide?

Similarly, healthcare providers can achieve at least three big benefits from patients’ portal-usage: greater efficiencies, cost-savings and improved health outcomes — again, only if patients use their portals. But with only 20% of patients regularly relying on portals, many benefits have been unattainable.

Why are portals so complicated?

A big issue for many users is that portals are simply too complicated for at least two opposite kinds of users: those who have low computer literacy, and those who are so computer savvy that they expect the simplicity of an Uber or Instagram app to get a test result or appointment with a click or two.

Can rapid access replace patient rights?

Rapid access cannot replace patients’ rights to understand. Even if a test result isn’t recognizably negative, a portal presentation of an uninterpreted report can be painful to patients and certainly unproductive.

Is the portal concept slow?

Acceptance of the portal concept continues to be slow, especially within physicians’ offices and small to middle size hospitals. Though these providers implemented portals via their Meaningful Use / MIPS incentives, portals are often not treated as a central communications tool. Patient engagement? Yes…a laudable objective for policymakers — but many physicians already lament the deep cuts in their daily patient schedule that have been created by complex EHR-related obligations. The added work of portal interaction has been the opposite of a pot-sweetener, despite touted financial benefits.