patient portal messaging and quality care

How can patient portal secure messaging help streamline patient interactions?

Feb 07, 2018 · Secure messaging function called “Ask a nurse,” where the nurse manager triages the messages and confers with the physicians as needed to respond to patients. The practice established standards for response times of within 4 hours for more urgent questions to 2 days for prescription refills Getting Patients Registered

What is secure patient-provider messaging?

May 03, 2019 · Secure messaging is one of the most frequently utilized patient portal features [ 17 ]. This feature allows patients to communicate with their providers via electronic messaging (similar to email) about non-emergency questions or concerns and holds significant potential to engage patients in their care.

What are the benefits of using a patient portal?

Feb 10, 2015 · Common to these studies was the perception of high-quality care, better patient-to-provider communication, greater levels of patient education, and a high level of patient engagement/empowerment. Studies from 2013 also demonstrated several barriers to use of the patient portal; most common were lack of Internet access and lack of technical ...

Is secure messaging the future of outpatient care delivery?

Background: Patient portal secure messaging (asynchronous electronic communication between physicians and their established patients) allows patients to manage their care through asynchronous, direct communication with their providers. This type of engagement with health information technology could have important benefits for patients with chronic conditions, and …

What is a patient portal How will the patient portal enhance the quality of care?

Background. Engaging patients in the delivery of health care has the potential to improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction. Patient portals may enhance patient engagement by enabling patients to access their electronic medical records (EMRs) and facilitating secure patient-provider communication.

How does patient portal improve 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.

How can a patient portal improve a patient's health care?

With a patient portal, you can:Make appointments (non-urgent)Request referrals.Refill prescriptions.Check benefits.Update insurance or contact information.Make payments to your provider's office.Complete forms.Ask questions through secure e-mail.Aug 13, 2020

Why is patient portal important in healthcare?

Portals can increase patient loyalty. The ongoing relationship and communication that occurs outside of appointments encourages patients to feel cared for and to remain loyal to your practice. Increase your value. Patients value the easy access to information and direct communication that comes with portal use.

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

What is a portal message?

Portal messages are a secure, optional messaging tool built into the patient portal. Patient portal users can exchange messages with their pediatric practice, and the practice can receive and send portal messages with PCC EHR or pocketPCC.Jul 1, 2021

How do patient portals contribute to patient centered care?

Further, portals help providers educate their patients and prepare them for future care encounters. When patients have access to their health data, they are better informed, and have the potential to generate deep and meaningful conversations regarding patient wellness during doctor's appointments.May 13, 2016

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

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.

How long does it take for a nurse to respond to a patient?

The practice established standards for response times of within 4 hours for more urgent questions to 2 days for prescription refills

Is electronic communication second nature?

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. They don’t want to have to pick up the phone anymore.”.

Abstract

Patient portal secure messaging (asynchronous electronic communication between physicians and their established patients) allows patients to manage their care through asynchronous, direct communication with their providers.

Background

As healthcare delivery has shifted toward patient-centered care, patient portals have become an important health information technology (HIT) that encourages patient engagement by providing access to personal health information.

Methods

We conducted an exploratory qualitative study utilizing focus groups to better understand the way patients with chronic conditions utilize secure messaging within the patient portal.

Results

Among patients with chronic health conditions, thematic analysis of focus group transcripts revealed a major theme around the motivations for using secure messaging to manage a chronic condition. Motivations included the fact that secure messaging is quicker than calling the office and provides direct access to a patient’s physician.

Discussion

This study details the perspectives of patients with chronic conditions on the use of secure messaging via a patient portal for chronic disease management, including motivations for choosing asynchronous electronic communication with a physician, how it is used in care management, and challenges to this type of communication.

Conclusions

This study highlights the potential of patient portal messaging to enhance chronic disease self-management by increasing patients’ timely access to their primary care physicians, reducing the need for frequent office visits, and supporting care coordination. However, patients also expressed concerns about the appropriate use of portal messaging.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jaclyn Volney for her assistance with this project. The authors would also like to acknowledge the patients and providers for their participation in this study.

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, ...

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.”.

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.

Why is Qualis important?

Qualis has also been an important resource for information about the meaningful use rules. "We felt strongly that from a quality standpoint we could not succeed without going to electronic health records. I felt very strongly we had to invest in it because it would positively affect every patient that we encounter.".

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:

What is secure message?

Secure messages are also excellent tools for talking about medication management. Patients managing a chronic illness can update their medication progress, alert clinicians of any adverse side effects, or make any other necessary requests for adjustment.

What percentage of patients are frustrated with staff who are unresponsive to patient portal messages?

Research has indicated that 37 percent of patients grow frustrated with staff who are unresponsive to patient portal messages, while clinicians have expressed concern about patients growing impatient using the portal.

Why do clinicians rope off?

Many clinicians rope off one or two designated times to answer secure messages. This helps clinicians organize their workflows and create a certain expectation with patients. Patients sending messages in the morning can anticipate that their provider will return the message during lunch, for example.

Can providers exclude test results from secure messaging?

Complicating matters is patients’ preferences for receiving test results via the patient portal and secure message. Providers should not make a standard rule excluding test results from secure messaging; instead, they should recognize the nuances in patient preferences. Data from a 2017 study in the American Journal of Managed Care showed ...

Can clinicians answer secure messages in real time?

In these cases, it will be helpful for clinicians to be up-front with patients about their message answering timeline. Clinicians cannot answer each secure message in real-time, nor should they be expected to.