peer privacy access patient portal

What is a 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; Immunizations; Allergies; Lab results

Do patient portals facilitate patient discovery of errors in electronic health records?

Several studies reported that patient portals facilitate patient discovery of errors in EMRs [24,26,30,54-56]. Discussion in the literature of how patients could notify health care providers of such errors is lacking. Further research is needed to establish how patient-discovered errors are reported and to identify optimal reporting methods.

Do patients and caregivers use portals to communicate with healthcare staff?

Patients and caregivers expressed interest in using portals to communicate with health care staff [6,24,30,36] but not many actually used this feature [30,44]

What features of a patient portal would help organizations meet incentives?

Features of a patient portal would help organizations meet some of the qualifications for the incentives. Specific to this review would be features of the patient portal such as disease management and secure messaging between patient and provider [36].

Are patient portals confidential?

(a) Patient Portal is intended as a secure online means for you to access your confidential medical record information. Please note that if you share your Patient Portal user name and password with another person, this will allow that person to see your confidential medical record information.

How secure are patient portals?

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.

Can patients request a list of persons who viewed their PHI?

The Privacy Rule generally requires HIPAA covered entities (health plans and most health care providers) to provide individuals, upon request, with access to the protected health information (PHI) about them in one or more “designated record sets” maintained by or for the covered entity.

What are the disadvantages of patient portals?

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.

What are the security issues associated with engaging patients through an online patient portal?

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.

How are PHRs protected?

Some PHRs are offered by health care providers and health plans covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, known as HIPAA covered entities. The HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to these PHRs and protects the privacy of the information in them.

Who can access my medical records without my permission?

Your medical records are confidential. Nobody else is allowed to see them unless they: Are a relevant healthcare professional. Have your written permission.

What information can be shared without violating HIPAA?

Health information such as diagnoses, treatment information, medical test results, and prescription information are considered protected health information under HIPAA, as are national identification numbers and demographic information such as birth dates, gender, ethnicity, and contact and emergency contact ...

What is the standard for accessing patient information?

HIPAA defines patient rights such as access to his/her medical information. Part of the HIPAA law: This aspect protects health data integrity, availability and confidentiality. HIPAA standards for privacy of individuality identifiable health information it includes provisions that protect privileged communication.

Why do patients not use patient portals?

About one-quarter of individuals who did not view their patient portal within the past year reported concerns about privacy and security.. About 20 percent of individuals indicated the reason they did not access their patient portal was because they were uncomfortable with computers.

Can patient portals be hacked?

Unfortunately, what makes your patient portal valuable for patients is exactly what makes it attractive to cybercriminals. It's a one-stop shop for entire health records, and identity thieves can make a fast buck from stealing this data and selling it on.

What is the most common barrier to the use of the patient portal?

Conclusions: The most common barriers to patient portal adoption are preference for in-person communication, not having a need for the patient portal, and feeling uncomfortable with computers, which are barriers that are modifiable and can be intervened upon.

What are the security considerations in rolling out patient portals?

Some important security considerations in rolling out patient portals include remembering to include portals in risk assessments, Greene says. That includes assessing the risk of the portal being accessed by unauthorized individuals or data being intercepted during transmission.

Who is the editor of HealthcareInfoSecurity.com?

McGee is executive editor of Information Security Media Group's HealthcareInfoSecurity.com media site. She has about 30 years of IT journalism experience, with a focus on healthcare information technology issues for more than 15 years. Before joining ISMG in 2012, she was a reporter at InformationWeek magazine and news site and played a lead role in the launch of InformationWeek's healthcare IT media site.