safeguards for patient portal scholarly articles

What are the benefits of patient portals?

Potential safeguards are essential, and have been implemented especially in sensitive areas such as mental illness, substance abuse, and sexual health. Features of one institutional model are described that may illustrate the efforts to both ensure …

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

Oct 01, 2017 · Mobile health (mHealth) is a means of providing health services or information via portals or applications (apps) on wireless devices, such as smartphones or tablets.1 Patient portals are secure websites that help patients access their health information at their convenience. Many patient portals are mobile enabled via a web-based platform and are …

Who is least likely to benefit from patient portals?

Feb 02, 2016 · Health Information Security in Hospitals: the Application of Security Safeguards. Esmaeil Mehraeen, 1 Haleh Ayatollahi, 2 and Maryam Ahmadi 2. Esmaeil Mehraeen. 1 Department of Health Information Management, School of Paramedicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Find articles by Esmaeil Mehraeen.

Does patient condition influence portal use among cancer patients?

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.

What safeguards are in place for 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.

What 3 security safeguards are used to protect the electronic health record?

The three pillars to securing protected health information outlined by HIPAA are administrative safeguards, physical safeguards, and technical safeguards [4]. These three pillars are also known as the three security safeguard themes for healthcare.Jul 21, 2017

How do patient portals improve patient safety?

While the evidence is currently immature, patient portals have demonstrated benefit by enabling the discovery of medical errors, improving adherence to medications, and providing patient-provider communication, etc. High-quality studies are needed to fully understand, improve, and evaluate their impact.

How do you improve patient portals?

Here are some ways to encourage patient enrollment:Include information about the patient portal on your organization's website.Provide patients with an enrollment link before the initial visit to create a new account.Encourage team members to mention the patient portal when patients call to schedule appointments.More items...•Jun 25, 2020

What are technical safeguards?

Technical safeguards are defined in HIPAA that address access controls, data in motion, and data at rest requirements. A covered entity must implement technical policies and procedures for computing systems that maintain PHI data to restrict access to only those persons that have been granted access rights.

How do you safeguard patient information?

4 steps to safeguard patients' health informationStart with a security risk assessment. ... Secure remote access to your system and have a policy for use of mobile devices. ... Pay attention to business associate agreements. ... Be ready for the worst.

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

How can the patient portal affect patient satisfaction?

Patient portal users reported a high degree of usability and general satisfaction: 93% (891/957) of respondents felt the patient portal was easy to use, 83% (794/957) said it made communication more convenient, and 75% (716/957) indicated it saved time when scheduling an appointment.

How are patient portals beneficial?

The Benefits of a Patient Portal You can access all of your personal health information from all of your providers in one place. If you have a team of providers, or see specialists regularly, they can all post results and reminders in a portal. Providers can see what other treatments and advice you are getting.Aug 13, 2020

How can patient compliance with portal registration be increased?

Provide print materials in the office. • Leave portal pamphlets in the exam room for patients to read while they wait to see the physician. ... Promote the portal online. • ... Prepare your office and staff. • ... Adapt existing office workflows. • ... Equip your staff with talking points. • ... Offer incentives to patients and staff. •

How do you use patient portal?

1:438:41How to use a patient portal - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipQuestions getting into the portal. You access the portal through your medical center's website theMoreQuestions getting into the portal. You access the portal through your medical center's website the portal website or you can save it as a favorite to your device. From my medical center's. Website i

How is patient portal success measured?

To be successful, they should be assessed using measures that span across improvements in patient and family engagement (e.g., overall use and satisfaction with use and care), clinical outcomes, and operational efficiency.

What are the advantages of electronic health records?

Electronic health records (EHRs) offer significant advantages over paper charts, such as ease of portability, facilitated communication, and a decreased risk of medical errors; however, important ethical concerns related to patient confidentiality remain.

Why is trust important in EHR?

All of the benefits of an EHR are only possible if patients retain confidence in the security and accuracy of their medical records.

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals are secure websites that help patients access their health information at their convenience. Many patient portals are mobile enabled via a web-based platform and are therefore considered a form of mHealth. Patient-focused mHealth apps—software or programs stored directly on the mobile device—can provide an opportunity ...

What is mobile health?

Mobile health (mHealth) is a means of providing health services or information via portals or applications (apps) on wireless devices, such as smartphones or tablets. Patient portals are secure websites that help patients access their health information at their convenience. Many patient portals are mobile enabled via a web-based platform ...

What is mHealth communication?

Communication generally takes the form of secure messaging such as live chat or e-mail among patients and providers , including primary care and specialist physicians, pharmacists, and many others.

Key Words

Patient portals are personal health record (PHR) systems tethered to a health organization’s electronic health record (EHR) system. They allow patients to track their medical history, access their medical records, and communicate with their health-care providers, and in some cases, they record patient-entered data.

Materials and Methods

Figure 1 illustrates the literature review strategy.

Use of a Patient Portal by Pulmonologists in a Group Practice

We looked at the use of a patient portal implemented in early 2009 in a multispecialty group practice in the northeastern United States. As of May 31, 2014, 51,770 active patients in this practice had activated their access to the patient portal.

Conclusions

PHRs have value to providers and patients in numerous health-care settings and scenarios; however, this review of the literature reveals that in the PHR and patient portal knowledge base accumulated to date, very few studies have addressed the use of PHRs for pulmonary conditions or by pulmonologists.

Why is patient portal important?

Patient portal use has the potential to decrease testing redundancy and improve satisfaction. For example, if a patient's entire medical record with a healthcare provider is centrally located within a patient portal, it will be easily accessible for the patient to view, print out, or download.

What are the requirements for a health information technology (HITECH)?

1 The MU criteria require the adoption of a certified EHR by hospitals and providers to achieve specific objectives that are tied to financial incentives. 2 In order for hospitals, patient-centered medical homes, and practice providers to be eligible for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) financial incentives, they must be certified and meet CMS eligibility criteria. Employers are including a specific section for HITECH funds and the EHR within healthcare provider contracts. 3