patient portal improved access to care

Patient access to physician records through a portal can also improve patient-physician communication, and result in improved access and adherence.

Full Answer

How can a patient access the portal?

Feb 07, 2018 · Patient Portal Benefits Patient Care and Provider Workflow; Patient Portal Implementation Improves Quality of Patient Care and Strengthens Preventive Care; Patient Portal Increases Communication Between Patients and Providers; Pediatric Clinic Uses EHR to Automatically Generate Clinical Quality Reports; Quality Improvement in a Primary Care Practice

How does patient portal implementation improve quality of patient care?

Jul 11, 2017 · Patients find the portal to be useful and convenient, as it provides direct access to their health care and information as they need it. The portal supports the organizations philosophy of person-centered and respectful care, and perceives a resulting increase in responsibility and ownership among patients.

What are the benefits of the care portal?

Jun 24, 2019 · Patients with access to the portal increased their office visits by 21%. This was true for both patients with multiple problems as well as diabetes by itself. Portal use was associated with an 8% decrease in ED visits and an 11% decrease in hospitalization, statistically significant for those with multiple problems and trending in that direction for patients with …

What is the goal of the patient registration portal?

Dec 19, 2019 · Although the existing literature has much emphasis on clinician and system use of EHR, increasingly closer attention is being paid to the EHR system in terms of its use in facilitating patients to play active roles in their care via a portal—a secure Web-based site tied to an EHR that gives patients access to their health records, appointment scheduling, refill requests, or secure …

How does patient portal improve patient care?

Why the use of patient portals are beneficial?

How can access to care be improved?

Are patient portals effective?

What are the benefits and challenges of using patient portals?

How can you improve accessibility of patient information particularly between providers?

What factors affect access to healthcare?

What are some barriers to access of care?

How do patient portals contribute to patient centered care?

What are the challenges of patient portals?

Do patients like patient portals?

Why is portal important?

The portal has proven to offer a much better means of communication. The care team is now able to keep in contact with patients more reliably and ask them direct questions when needed. Using the portal has enabled the organization to be more transparent and interactive with patients, and to proactively send patients the information they need.

What did the FQHC do to improve the portal?

The FQHC also took measures to increase patient support and acceptance of the portal. The organization used questions and points of confusion from telephone calls about the portal to identify areas for improvement. The organization also engaged a group of peer volunteers to help some of the older patients who were having difficulty using the portal.

What is the FQHC portal?

The FQHC sees improved communication between patients and providers, and views every instance when a patient emails a provider, nurse, or health coach as an opportunity to take a step towards better health. Patients find the portal to be useful and convenient, as it provides direct access to their health care and information as they need it. The portal supports the organizations philosophy of person-centered and respectful care, and perceives a resulting increase in responsibility and ownership among patients. Now that patients have a greater familiarity and comfort level with technology, the organization is planning to use telemedicine to offer virtual appointments to some patients.

Does the Center monitor MU?

The Center already monitors MU measures related to patient portals, but will now assess other measures to examine patient satisfaction, health outcomes, and how patients use technology to further manage their own health and health care. The organization is developing a report to further explore statisitcs about portal use and related patient engagement.

Can iPads be used in a clinic?

The FQHC determined that tablet computers would provide the easiest experience for patients accessing the portal from a clinical setting, and chose to install iPads. Patients use these iPads in the clinic to submit requests directly to the care team while at their appointment. Patients can also access the portal on a mobile app or website when not at the clinic.

How does a portal help a patient?

Similarly, the portal’s ability to address requests for prescription refills off-hours reduced ED visits. Portals acted as buffers between a patient’s desire for 24-ho ur access and physicians’ desires for a work-life balance. And while ED visits and hospitalizations are one measure of wellness, it is not clear whether portals improve patient health; to the extent that the foster improved communication, they provide a benefit.

How much did patients with access to the portal increase their office visits?

Patients with access to the portal increased their office visits by 21% . This was true for both patients with multiple problems as well as diabetes by itself.

What is meaningful use?

Meaningful use refers to not just having electronic health records (EHR), but using them in a useful way for patients. And while getting the various EHRs to talk to one another seems not to have been considered meaningful, EHRs have implemented patient portals – a means for patients to e-communicate with their physicians ...

Why are portals important?

Portals acted as buffers between a patient’s desire for 24-hour access and physicians’ desires for a work-life balance. And while ED visits and hospitalizations are one measure of wellness, it is not clear whether portals improve patient health; to the extent that the foster improved communication, they provide a benefit. ...

Do Medicare portals have problems?

Portals are not free of problems. Only about 30% of Medicare beneficiaries use them despite nearly 90% of their physicians providing them. As with many healthcare disparities, age, income, and in this instance broadband access, limit portal use. And like other new technology, there is a schism between the designers’ intentions and what users found beneficial. For example, physicians have been slow to incorporate appointment scheduling in the system; and patients find having laboratory and imaging results, without the explanatory framework that a physician provides, may induce more anxiety than assurance.

What is a patient portal?

The patient portal is best known for its connection and communication capabilities. A quality solution should come with an easy-to-use messaging center where patients and providers can stay connected more than ever. Here, patients can ask important questions, bring up developments in their care, and form a connection with their provider. Without this tool, patients are put in a position where they have to address everything on their mind in a single visit with their provider, losing information between interactions and forgetting to address key details in their care. The patient portal makes it simple for the patient to stay completely connected with their provider, preventing important developments from slipping through the cracks.

How does a patient portal work?

A fully integrated patient portal works with you EHR, Practice Management, and Billing Software to deliver a smoother patient experience, improve patient outcomes, and grow revenue within your organization.

Why is patient portal important?

Not only is the patient portal a convenient place for patients and providers to communicate, but it is also the place patients go to understand their personal health. Here, patients can review their care plan so that they can adhere to it more easily and gain instant access to test results in real-time. They can then review them with their providers and know exactly where they are in their progress. Increasing access to information is essential to achieving better patient outcomes.

Why is it important to get your patients involved in their care?

Getting your patients actively engaged in their care is essential to achieving a better health outcome. Unless a patient is independently involved in their medical care, it can be difficult to get them to adhere to their treatment plan and achieve quality results.

What are the steps to improve patient access?

Steps 1 through 3 will inform an improved patient access plan, aligning the plan’s champions and leaders, identifying barriers and patient preferences, and targeting opportunities to better connect patients with care. Step 4 involves implementing the improved patient access plan. The implementation may comprise initiatives such as the following:

How does digital access benefit health care?

By increasing digital access, many organizations benefit from this shift by maintaining patient traffic (and associated revenue), while patients benefit with convenient access to care. Health systems are also learning that standardizing virtual care also patients overcome non-pandemic-era access barriers, such as finding transportation to appointments and aligning work and personal schedules with appointment times.

What are patient preferences and concerns?

Patient preferences and concerns health systems may want to learn about include the importance of ample, available appointment times; the ease (or difficulty) of making appointments by phone and online; how long patients are willing to wait for an appointment; and how far they’re ready to travel for care. Provider input may include differing referral preferences between clinics, confusing referral processes, inconsistent follow-up from the referred provider, and denied appointments.

What is the challenge of access to healthcare?

Improving patient access to healthcare has long been a common challenge for health systems. From understanding patient preferences about how to make appointments and meeting expectations, including wait times and travel distance for care, to decentralized referral processes, one of the most basic aspects of healthcare—getting patients access to their providers—has been a barrier to healthcare delivery and improvement.

What is a patient access task force?

The patient access task force must include representation from C-level leadership and leaders from across the organization. This structure encourages buy-in and championing from the top down, which builds the likelihood of widespread adoption and standardization of patient access improvement initiatives. Multidisciplinary engagement also ensures meeting different department needs (e.g., physician leaders represent clinical concerns), leveraging accessible solutions (e.g., IT leaders offer practical digital tools), and financial optimization.

What is Enhanced scheduling capacity and utilization?

Enhanced scheduling capacity and utilization that targets issues such as scheduling process variation and high no-show rates with scheduling template management, appointment reminder message optimization, and optimized clinic space utilization to accommodate visits.

What is standardized referral process?

A standardized referral process built into the organization’s EMR with a process that gives feedback to the referring provider.

What is the purpose of a tightly integrated patient portal and EHR?

Collect patient data. “A tightly integrated or interfaced patient portal and EHR will deliver data back to the patient from their encounter. Push the patient’s medication list, medication allergies, problem list, and diagnostic test results from the EHR into the portal and patients almost naturally become more engaged in their healthcare.”

What is the integration/interface from the portal to the EHR?

“The integration/interface from the portal to the EHR allows for automation of data exchange after the patient visit. Clinical documentation is completed and made available to the patient without any action from your staff. In addition to further engaging patients in their own care, you’ll have achieved two more core requirements of meaningful use.”

How does self registration help patients?

It will save your front-desk staff time, reduce costs, and patient data will be more complete and accurate. When patients call to schedule appointments use that time to introduce them to your patient portal, and explain that advance online registration will save them time on the day of their visit, because their paperwork will already be filled out. Advance registration on the portal provides your practice with three core requirements to meet meaningful use too.”