patient portal terminologies

What is a patient portal?

More and more doctors, clinics, hospitals, and patients are using something known as patient portals. A patient portal is a secure website that allows patients to access their health information and, in many cases, connect with their physician. There are many patient portal systems.

What is the major shortcoming of most patient portals?

The major shortcoming of most patient portals is their linkage to a single health organization. If a patient uses more than one organization for healthcare, the patient normally needs to log on to each organization's portal to access information. This results in a fragmented view of individual patient data.

What are the disadvantages of patient portals?

The major shortcoming of most patient portals is their linkage to a single health organization. If a patient uses more than one organization for healthcare, the patient normally needs to log on to each organization’s portal to access information. This results in a fragmented view of individual patient data.

Are patient portals protected by HIPAA?

Something as seemingly trivial as a name is viewed by HIPAA as protected health information. For this reason, security has always been a top concern for the industry when dealing with the adoption of patient portals.

What does patient portal contain?

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. Many providers now offer patient portals.

What are the different types of patient portals?

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.

What do you look for 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...

What means patient portal?

A patient portal is a secure online website that gives patients convenient, 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection. Using a secure username and password, patients can view health information such as: Recent doctor visits. Discharge summaries. Medications.

What is the most popular patient portal?

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...•

How do you implement a patient portal?

9 Steps to Implement a New Patient Portal SolutionResearch Different Portal Solutions. ... Look for the Right Portal Features. ... Get Buy-In from Key Stakeholders. ... Evaluate and Enhance Existing Workflows. ... Develop a Comprehensive Onboarding Plan. ... Be Prepared for a Successful Go-Live. ... Seek Out Painless Portal Migration.

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.

What is the role of an HIM professional with regards to patient portals?

The HIM professional's role will be to help manage that access portal and to help patients manage the information held within it.

Why do patients not use patient portals?

The researchers found no demographic differences among nonusers who said that a technology hurdle, lack of internet access or no online medical record was the reason why they did not make use of a patient portal.

What is the difference between PHR and patient portal?

PHRs, EHRs and patient portals A PHR that is tied to an EHR is called a patient portal. In some but not all cases you can add information, such as home blood pressure readings, to your record via a patient portal. If that's the case, you may not want to create a separate, standalone PHR .

What are remote patient monitoring devices?

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices allow providers to monitor, report, and analyze their patient's acute or chronic conditions from outside the hospital or clinic setting. They enable real-time understanding of a patient's disease state, enabling the provider to make proactive clinical decisions.

What does PHR mean in medical terms?

PERSONAL HEALTH RECORDS AND. THE HIPAA PRIVACY RULE. INTRODUCTION. A personal health record (PHR) is an emerging health information technology that individuals can use to engage in their own health care to improve the quality and efficiency of that care.

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals are healthcare -related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers, such as physicians and hospitals . Typically, portal services are available on the Internet at all hours of the day and night. Some patient portal applications exist as stand-alone web sites ...

How do patient portals benefit patients?

Patient portals benefit both patients and providers by increasing efficiency and productivity. Patient portals are also regarded as a key tool to help physicians meet "meaningful use" requirements in order to receive federal incentive checks, especially for providing health information to patients.

What is HIPAA regulation?

Health care providers in the US are bound to comply with HIPAA regulations. These regulations specify what patient information must be held in confidence. Something as seemingly trivial as a name is viewed by HIPAA as protected health information.

What are the shortcomings of a patient portal?

The major shortcoming of most patient portals is their linkage to a single health organization. If a patient uses more than one organization for healthcare, the patient normally needs to log on to each organization's portal to access information. This results in a fragmented view of individual patient data.

What is e-visit?

E-visits (remote use of medical services) may soon become one of the most commonly used options of patient portals. The most likely demographic for uptake of e-visits are patients who live in remote rural areas, far from clinical services.

Is a patient portal HIPAA compliant?

While there may be systems that are not HIPAA compliant, certainly most patient and practice portals are secure and compliant with HIPAA regulations. The use of SSL and access control patterns are commonplace in the industry. Patient access is typically validated with a user name and password.

Do patient portals have to have a patient management system?

Most patient portals require the practice to have some type of electronic medical record or patient management system , as the patient data needs to be stored in a data repository then retrieved by the patient portal.