implementing a patient portal

9 Steps to Implement a New Patient Portal Solution

1. Research Different Portal Solutions. It’s never wise to select the first tool you come across, no matter how...
2. Look for the Right Portal Features. When researching potential solutions, look for the features and benefits that are...
3. Get Buy-In from Key Stakeholders. Before you move forward with implementing new...

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.

How do patients sign up for a patient portal?

After the patient portal implementation, patients registered by providing their e-mail address and within 24 hours they receive an e-mail with instructions for registering on the website. A reminder e-mail is sent after 30 days if patients have not registered. The practice found that it is important to clearly explain the steps for signing up.

How can EHRs engage patients and their family members?

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.

How do patients feel about the use of web-based information?

For many patients, the use of Web-based information and electronic communication is “second nature”; consequently, they are comfortable using the portal. As one clinician observed, “Lots of patients are accustomed to using electronic communication now.

How do you implement MyChart?

You can sign up for a MyChart account on your healthcare provider's MyChart website or in the MyChart mobile app.Click Access MyChart at the top of this page to find your MyChart provider, then click Sign Up to request an activation code.Follow the steps to verify your identity and create your MyChart account.

What are the benefits and challenges of implementing a patient portal?

What are the Top Pros and Cons of Adopting Patient Portals?Pro: Better communication with chronically ill patients.Con: Healthcare data security concerns.Pro: More complete and accurate patient information.Con: Difficult patient buy-in.Pro: Increased patient ownership of their own care.Feb 17, 2016

What is the nurse's role in implementation of patient portals in healthcare?

Nurses see the portal as an additional service for patients, because it offers them the possibility for asking questions at any time and place suitable for the patient. Some nurses experience an increase in work load, because patients ask more non-urgent questions that otherwise would not be asked.Jun 15, 2012

What elements should be incorporated into a patient portal?

A robust patient portal should include the following features:Clinical summaries.Secure (HIPAA-compliant) messaging.Online bill pay.New patient registration.Ability to update demographic information.Prescription renewals and contact lens ordering.Appointment requests.Appointment reminders.More items...

How do patients feel about patient portals?

Some patients recognize the role of patient portals in their health care, reporting satisfaction with the ability to communicate with their health care teams and perform tasks such as requesting prescription refills conveniently [3,16].

Why is a patient portal important?

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.Aug 13, 2020

Is a patient portal an EHR?

Electronic health record (EHR) patient portals provide a means by which patients can access their health information, including diagnostic test results. Little is known about portal usage by emergency department (ED) patients.

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 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.

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 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.

What is the stage 1 requirement for a patient?

Stage 1. Required Provide patients with clinical summaries for each office visit within 3 business days. This is required for more than 50% of all office visits during the reporting period. Required Provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information upon request.

What is Stage 2 of CMS EHR?

One of the most talked about changes with Stage 2 of the CMS EHR Incentive Program, is the requirement that your patients interact with their health information and communicate with you or your practice electronically. (See Appendix A for the patient engagement requirements.) This requires additional technology to enable the secure sharing of health information and the associated tracking to generate the Meaningful Use reporting. Along with that, you will need to find a way to share the message with your patients that you want to interact electronically and have the ability to do so.

Benefits of a Patient Portal

Staff will spend less time on data entry. When you consider that registration information must be provided by every patient, you quickly realize the enormous amount of time your office staff spends entering that data into your computer system.

Portals and EHR Meaningful Use

With 2014 just around the corner, practices that are moving on to Stage 2 of the federal meaningful use (MU) incentive program must prepare to meet the new re-quirements.

Get Prepared for a Portal

Start early. It takes considerable time to introduce your patients to the features available through your portal—and even longer to get them into the habit of using it regularly. “We knew that we had to embrace this new technology as part of the MU requirements and did not want to wait until the last minute to begin implementation,” said Ms.

Going Live

When your patient portal goes live, should you roll out multiple features all at once or implement one component at a time?

Usability Is Critical

Patient portals must be user friendly to sustain continued patient use. If your practice’s portal is not intuitive or if it is too cumbersome to move through the options, you’ll find your patients will avoid using it. “Our portal is provided by one of several third-party vendors that work directly with our EHR vendor,” said Ms. Woodke.

What is a patient portal?

A quality patient portal should have a messaging center that patients and providers can use to address health questions and concerns quickly and efficiently.

Why is patient portal important?

The patient portal is one of the most important tools that a provider needs to have a successful practice. It increases patient engagement like no other tool ever has and cultivates a better patient-provider relationship.

Why do people avoid going to the doctor's office?

In the past, patients have put off and avoided going to their doctor’s office because it can become very inconvenient, taking large amounts of time out of their day or just interrupting their lives in general.

Does a patient portal cost a dime?

The Cost of a Patient Portal. The truth about the cost of a patient portal is that it does not, and should not, have to cost a provider a dime. Each component of a physician’s office technology is related and should work together to make sure physicians are offering quality care, meeting regulatory requirements and practicing medicine ...