importance patient portal in medication safety

When providers and staff tell patients about the portal, they assure them that the portal will only be used to respond to the patient’s message and to share important health information such as the clinical summaries. They also explain how to prevent messages from going into the spam folder.

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How do you encourage patients to use the portal?

Feb 10, 2015 · Very few studies associated use of the patient portal, or its features, to improved outcomes; 37% (10/27) of papers reported improvements in medication adherence, disease awareness, self-management of disease, a decrease of office visits, an increase in preventative medicine, and an increase in extended office visits, at the patient’s request for additional …

Does patient portal use affect medication adherence and medication control?

Nov 08, 2018 · Pharmacist involvement in medication reconciliation has been shown to keep patients safer. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), several systematic reviews indicate that pharmacist-led processes could prevent medication discrepancies and potential ADEs at admission, transitions, and discharge.[2]

Does the patient portal meet the intents of meaningful use?

Sep 29, 2018 · The Importance of Medication Compliance for Patient Safety. S. Michael Ross MD, MHA September 29, 2018. Medication Compliance. Medication adherence refers to the degree or extent patients conform to a provider’s recommended medication plan. Compliance happens when patients follow instructions with respect to the timing, dosage, and frequency ...

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a patient portal?

Sep 13, 2019 · Patient safety is fundamental to delivering quality essential health services. Indeed, there is a clear consensus that quality health services across the world should be effective, safe and people-centred. In addition, to realize the benefits of quality health care, health services must be timely, equitable, integrated and efficient.

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 are the benefits and challenges of using patient portals?

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

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

How effective are patient portals?

Improve Clinical Outcomes Patient portals make tasks such as requesting prescription refills and referrals easier and more convenient leads to greater patient compliance – and when patients follow doctors' orders, clinical outcomes improve.Dec 8, 2017

What should be in 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...

Is patient portal secure?

Patient portals have privacy and security safeguards in place to protect your health information. To make sure that your private health information is safe from unauthorized access, patient portals are hosted on a secure connection and accessed via an encrypted, password-protected logon.

What are some advantages to a healthcare facilities use of the patient portal function?

What are the benefits of patient portals?Patient portals are efficient. ... Patient portals improve communication. ... They store health information in one place. ... Patient portals satisfy meaningful use standards. ... They improve data accuracy. ... Patient portals make refilling prescriptions easy. ... They're available whenever you need them.More items...•Jul 15, 2019

What is a portal in medicine?

Vein, portal: A large vein that carries blood from the stomach and the intestines to the liver.Mar 29, 2021

What is the goal of hie?

The purpose of HIE is to promote the appropriate and secure access and retrieval of a patient's health information to improve the cost, quality, safety and speed of patient care.

How do you improve patient portal?

Here are some ways to encourage patient enrollment:Include information about the patient portal on your organization's website.Provide patients with an enrollment link before the initial visit to create a new account.Encourage team members to mention the patient portal when patients call to schedule appointments.More items...•Jun 25, 2020

Why is pharmacist involvement important in medication reconciliation?

Pharmacist involvement in medication reconciliation has been shown to keep patients safer. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), several systematic reviews indicate that pharmacist-led processes could prevent medication discrepancies and potential ADEs at admission, transitions, and discharge.[2]

What is participatory medicine?

An interesting editorial from the Society of Participatory Medicine shares the story of one of its authors who had an ADE during an inpatient stay. An important cardiac medicine he brought with him to admission got dropped during the medication reconciliation process - which only involved hospital staff. The article advocates comparing the medication reconciliation lists with the patient or caregiver as a final, participatory step that can avoid omitting (or adding) an incorrect medicine. [1]

Does medication reconciliation reduce admissions?

Medication reconciliation alone does not reduce admissions or ADEs after discharge [3]. That’s because people don’t absorb everything they are told when being prescribed a new regimen. They forget to take a medicine. Or they stop taking a medicine because of a side effect.

Why is medication compliance important?

Medication adherence refers to the degree or extent patients conform to a provider’s recommended medication plan. Compliance happens when patients follow instructions with respect to the timing, dosage, and frequency of all their medications. So what happens when patients don’t adhere ...

What happens when a patient leaves the hospital?

But the truth is, once patient’s leave the office or hospital, patients are on their own. A patient’s decision about whether or not to comply with a medication regimen happens outside the walls of the hospital and clinic.

What are the most vulnerable people to medication adherence?

Particularly vulnerable are people with chronic conditions such as heart disease, COPD, and hypertension. Most conversations about medication adherence happen during a patient’s doctor visit or hospital discharge. But the truth is, once patient’s leave the office or hospital, patients are on their own.

Can medication nonadherence lead to readmissions?

And that can lead to poor outcomes, increased doctor visits, and potential readmissions to the hospital, particularly for people with chronic conditions. Medication nonadherence results from intentional as well as unintentional actions.

Why is patient safety important?

Patient safety is fundamental to delivering quality essential health services. Indeed, there is a clear consensus that quality health services across the world should be effective, safe and people-centred. In addition, to realize the benefits of quality health care, health services must be timely, equitable, integrated and efficient.

What is patient safety?

Patient Safety is a health care discipline that emerged with the evolving complexity in health care systems and the resulting rise of patient harm in health care facilities. It aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors and harm that occur to patients during provision of health care.

What is the WHO patient safety and risk management unit?

The Patient Safety and Risk Management unit at WHO has been instrumental in advancing and shaping the patient safety agenda globally by focusing on driving improvements in some key strategic areas through:

When is World Patient Safety Day?

Recognizing that Patient Safety is a global health priority, the World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted a resolution on Patient Safety which endorsed the establishment of World Patient Safety Day to be observed annually by Member States on 17 September.

When did WHO start working on patient safety?

WHO's work on patient safety began with the launch of the World Alliance for Patient Safety in 2004 and this work has continued to evolve over time. WHO has facilitated improvements in the safety of health care within Member States through establishment of Global Patient Safety Challenges.

Why is it persuasive to use a portal?

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.”.

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 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:

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.

Where is PHMG based?

PHMG is currently working with Healthwise® — a nonprofit organization based in Boise, Idaho, that develops health content and patient education solutions—to beta test the integration of Healthwise patient education materials into the eClinicalWorks EHR system.

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:

Where do messages go in a family practice?

For family practice, messages generally go right to the provider. For specialists, who tend to be out of the office more often, messages go to the nurses or other staff for triage. To facilitate communication, PHMG developed a template for common messages, such as delivery of lab results.

What is patient safety?

This means that hospital leadership is not dictating rules for employees to follow, but rather fostering a culture of patient safety. It is important to understand the distinction.

What is the evidence that patients are harmed from their healthcare?

As best stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), “There is now overwhelming evidence that significant numbers of patients are harmed from their healthcare either resulting in permanent injury, increased length of stay (LOS) in hospitals and even death.”.

Why is it important to review a medication?

Reviewing this will help patients take their medication appropriately. This is particularly important for medications intended to treat the onset of symptoms , such as headache, nausea, or diarrhea. 2.

What happens if you don't follow prescription instructions?

Instructions. When patients fail to properly follow a prescription's instructions, they risk experiencing the effects of under- or over-dosing. Review new prescription instructions with patients before they complete their visit, then encourage patients to always review instructions before taking medications. Remind patients of the importance of ...

Why is transparency important for clinicians?

8. Value of Transparency. It's important for clinicians to know all they can about a patient's health history, which includes medications and dietary supplements the patient is on and, in some cases, has previously taken.

Can medication cause side effects?

Responding to Side Effects. Any medication can cause side effects. As noted earlier, patients should understand what side effects are commonly associated with their medication. They should also know what to do and not do if they experience any side effects, including stopping a medication or taking other medications.