36 hours ago Feb 07, 2018 · Reaction to the patient portal implementation has been very positive. Patients appreciate the convenience, for example, of being able to contact the practice at any time of day or night. For many patients, the use of Web-based information and electronic communication is “second nature”; consequently, they are comfortable using the portal. >> Go To The Portal
Feb 07, 2018 · Reaction to the patient portal implementation has been very positive. Patients appreciate the convenience, for example, of being able to contact the practice at any time of day or night. For many patients, the use of Web-based information and electronic communication is “second nature”; consequently, they are comfortable using the portal.
The most effective implementations begin with every stakeholder on the same page and willing to adopt the new system. Communicate the features, benefits, and steps it will take to implement a new patient portal to get everyone on board before taking action. 4. Evaluate and enhance existing workflows.
Feb 08, 2018 · Patients First leadership views the patient portal as an important way to support “patients as partners.”. The NextMD patient portal was rolled out in August 2010 and serves three core functions: Providing patients with an electronic clinical summary, Providing timely access to lab results, and. Providing secure messaging with clinical and ...
Likewise, when we receive a payment by mail, someone has to open the envelope, scan the check into the banking system, prepare and make the deposit, and post it into the system. Each of these steps costs us money. If a patient makes a payment through the portal, our cost is about 1 cent.”. Making these advantages meaningful to your employees ...
Your new patient portal will only be beneficial if your practice staff and patients know how to use it. Select a partner that provides consulting and onboarding to ensure you are successful with your new patient portal. This way, you can ensure you’re making the most of the new solution and taking full advantage of all the features it has to offer. Onboarding plans typically include details on training, workflow changes needed, new policies, and roles and responsibilities.
Leading patient portals should differentiate themselves by providing proficiencies to your practice workflows. Evaluating workflows and enabling new benefits like patient self-scheduling, or pre-visit form completions can deliver significant workflow enhancements.
After promoting the portal at the initial launch, it is critical to reinforce the value of using the portal and to periodically undertake promotional efforts, especially when new portal features are rolled out.
Patients First leadership views the patient portal as an important way to support “patients as partners.” The NextMD patient portal was rolled out in August 2010 and serves three core functions:
Providers need to adjust to completing their notes at the time of service and writing their notes in plain language because they will be read by patients, rather than relayed to patients by medical personnel. Also, providers and patients need to adjust to secure messaging as a new mode of communication.
The physician expressed that “the clinical summary is a huge, huge asset to the patient and the family” because it allows information to be shared accurately and efficiently. Providers feel that the clinical summary fosters patient engagement in health care, and helps patients understand what the provider is planning.
Bulk Enrollment. Another major component of the portal launch was a bulk enrollment. To achieve this, Patients First pulled e-mail addresses—which are obtained from patients routinely as part of clinic intake—for patients who were not already enrolled and uploaded them using the NextMD Bulk Enrollment Processor. A script was created to verify valid user names and enroll patients using a pair of e-mail messages; the first to welcome them to NextMD and the second to give them a temporary password and instructions on how to access the portal to create their unique password.
The bulk enrollment process was effective (12,000 patients enrolled), however some patients were not aware they were enrolled because the enrollment message went to spam.
Allowing Flexibility Encourages Adoption. Providers have given input into the development of templates for different clinical situations and they are able to tailor the clinical summary according to their own preferences.
Why implement a patient portal? For practices with a website, a portal could be the next logical step. It can improve practice efficiency by allowing patients to go online to schedule appointments, preregister, pay bills, review information from their charts, and receive educational materials—all activities that otherwise would be done over the phone or in person during the office visit. And for practices that are moving on to Stage 2 of the federal meaningful use (MU) program for electronic health records (EHRs), a patient portal provides a means for satisfying the “patient electronic access” objective (see “ Portals and EHR Meaningful Use ”).
You can focus on the patient, not on the registration process. “One of the most significant improvements we have experienced with the introduction of our patient portal has been the amount of time that we get to spend with a patient,” said Denise Fridl, COT, COE, who is her practice’s chief performance officer. “If patients have already submitted their registration information prior to their visit—rather than spending 10 minutes answering a technician’s questions—we can spend more quality time talking to them about why they are here for an appointment.”
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, ...
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.
Messaging is monitored periodically to ensure that communication with patients is succinct and user-friendly.
PHMG is an independent medical group with 11 clinics in southwest Idaho, provides both appointment‐based and urgent care. PHMG has 46 health care providers (including 12 mid‐level providers) and averages 200,000 patient visits per year. About half of PHMG’s patients are appointment‐based and half are urgent care. The practice specializes in:
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:
They found that it is particularly persuasive when providers encourage patients to use the portal because patients trust providers and value their opinions. One provider says he reinforces a patient’s use of the portal by closing all messages with “Thanks for using the portal.”.
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: