14 hours ago · By Jonathan Kaufmann, CMIO, Bayhealth Medical Center. It’s not the patient’s portal. It’s your digital front door. The patient portal is a reflection of your organization’s strategy on patient engagement. This shift in thinking tripled my organization’s patient portal use in less than one year. Patient portals were first used in the late nineties by a few large healthcare … >> Go To The Portal
★ About one in five patient portal users (22%) accessed their health information using both a smartphone health app and a computer in 2020. ★ Patient portal users most commonly accessed their health information through a computer (83%) – six in 10 portal users accessed their health information using only this method.
Individuals who access their portal at least once in the past year are referred to as “patient portal users”. Patient portal users who access their health information using multiple methods access their portal more frequently than those who use only one method.
In the processes category, sociodemographic characteristics and medical conditions of patients were predictors of portal use; some patients wanted unlimited access to their EMRs, personalized health education, and nonclinical information; and patients were keen to use portals for communicating with their health care teams.
A new communications model to many patients may seem complicated and unnecessary, especially when they have no obligation to use it. — Patient portals remain siloed. Without interoperability of systems, the promise of patient portals is greatly reduced. I have portal access to 6 different providers, including two hospitals.
Burying lab results or not offering access to clinician notes will likely keep patients from seeing the utility of the portal. Even if providers offer this health data, making it difficult for patients to navigate to it will reduce the utility in the technology.
Even though they should improve communication, there are also disadvantages to patient portals....Table of ContentsGetting Patients to Opt-In.Security Concerns.User Confusion.Alienation and Health Disparities.Extra Work for the Provider.Conclusion.
There are two main types of patient portals: a standalone system and an integrated service. Integrated patient portal software functionality usually comes as a part of an EMR system, an EHR system or practice management software. But at their most basic, they're simply web-based tools.
Sixty-three percent reported not using a portal during the prior year. In multivariable analysis, we found that nonusers were more likely to be male, be on Medicaid, lack a regular provider, and have less than a college education, compared to users.
One con to keep in mind with patient portals is that some patients may not have much experience with computers, preventing them from getting the most out of it. Another drawback is the potential for data breaches, so you'll need to work with a vendor that provides robust, secure EHR software.
Sharing credentials can lead to multiple data security and privacy problems, including revealing more information than the patient intended, and to health care practitioner confusion and mistakes if they do not know with whom they are communicating.
Top 10 Patient Portal Software By EMRSystemsEpic EHR Software's MyChart.athenahealth EMR Software's athenaCommunicator.PrognoCIS EMR Software.Cerner Specialty Practice Management Software.eClinicalWorks EMR Software's Patient Portal and Healow App.Greenway PrimeSUITE EHR Software.NextGen Healthcare EHR Software.More items...•
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...
5 steps to maximize your patient portal and boost practice...Meet patient priorities. ... Integrate the portal into practice workflow. ... Identify patients who will most benefit from portal use. ... Promote the portal. ... Evaluate portal use and modify practice operations.
Eight studies reported that patients or their caregivers want more portal education, training, or support. Two studies found that their participants want human connection as they learn about the portal and how to use it, as well as when they encounter issues.
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.
Among individuals who were offered a patient portal, about eight in 10 were encouraged by their health care provider to use it. Seventy-one percent of individuals encouraged by their health care provider accessed their portal at least once in the past year compared to 48 percent who were not encouraged.
It’s a disadvantage of both the provider and patient when clients decide not to use a patient portal. Patients are missing out on the potential benefits available to them. Providers also need to spend more time going over information with the patient that they could just access on the portal.
The AMA also says that security concerns are the reason why 22% of people aren’t taking advantage of these services. These concerns were more common in patients over 40 years old.
There’s always the risk of confusion when using a new online platform. Trying to learn all the functionalities can take some time. This is why some accounts offer new user tours to guide the person through all of the features.
Other disadvantages of patient portals include alienation and health disparities. Alienation between patient and provider occurs for those who don’t access these tools. Sometimes, this is due to health disparities if a person doesn’t have a method for using them.
With each of the disadvantages of patient portals that I already mentioned comes unintended extra work for the provider. Doctors want their clients to use this service they offer but opt-in rates are still low among patients.
Patient portals are set up to be a benefit for clients. When people opt-in to using these services, they can use quick on-demand features to make their health experience better. For instance, it’s easier to obtain medical records, immunizations, prescription information, and other details.
Background: Patient access to their medical records through patient portals (PPs) facilitates information exchange and provision of quality health care. Understanding factors that characterize patients with limited access to and use of PPs is needed.
Gender, education, marital status, and having a regular clinician were factors associated with access, facilitators of use, and use of PPs ( Table 2 ). Age, language proficiency, and having health insurance were also associated with PPs access and use but not race and ethnicity.
Individuals’ rates of being offered and subsequently accessing their patient portal increased significantly between 2018 and 2019, but did not change in 2020.
Data are from the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS).
Johnson C, Richwine C, & Patel V. (September 2021). Individuals’ Access and Use of Patient Portals and Smartphone Health Apps, 2020. ONC Data Brief, no.57. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology: Washington DC.
Setting usage expectations with patients is critical. “Providers and organizations are doing a much better job explaining the patient portal when the patient is signing up,” says Fochetta. “They’re setting up expectations for what the portal is and isn’t for.”
When rolled out thoughtfully and with operational design in mind, portals do tend to be worth it both clinically and financially. From a financial perspective, portals help practices reduce administrative costs related to processing payments, scanning forms, printing after-visit summaries, calling patients for appointment reminders, and more. Time (and paper) saved translates into dollars for the practice.