sample patient portal policy

Can I request access to the patient portal maintained by Silver Sage?

As a patient at Ponce Primary Care, we ask that you utilize our Patient Portal. But first, please familiarize yourself with the best practices & policies of the Patient Portal. 1) The portal is not …

What happens after I sign the policy and procedures form?

Also the following policies and limitations apply: 1. Do not use portal communications if there is an emergency, please dial 911 or go to the Emergency Room. 2. No internet based treatment …

What should I not do on the portal?

Patient Portal Policy Page 3 of 3 Access to the patient portal is an optional service and may be suspended or terminated at any time for any reason. I acknowledge that I have read and fully …

How do I make patient portal user friendly?

Offer forms and workflows that are easy to use and to customize. Ensure that the portal is affordable for providers. Make sure that the patient data is portable so that providers can share it with other providers. Provide system upgrades to keep the portal up-to-date.

What elements should be incorporated into 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 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 patient care policies?

Patient care policies cover protocols and workflow for treatment procedures, outlining how healthcare professionals should respond to specific medical situations. Of course, policies must be tailored to the care your facility provides.

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...•

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.

Why do patients not use patient portals?

Disadvantages of patient portals result in these lower rates of use. For some people, they avoid using the portals altogether for reasons like security issues, low health literacy, or lack of internet. Even for those who do access their accounts, there are still other disadvantages of patient portals.

What are the disadvantages of patient portals?

The most frequently reported downside to patient portals is the difficulty providers often face in generating patient buy-in. Although providers are generally aware of the health perks of using a patient portal, patients are seldom as excited about the portal as they are.

How do patient portals improve patient outcomes?

Patient portals have demonstrated benefit by improving adherence to medications and providing patient-provider communication. They may reduce in-person and emergency department visits, facilitate patient discovery of errors in electronic medical records (EMRs) and reduce the cost of care.

What are some examples of healthcare policies?

Examples of health-related policies include:Policies prohibiting tobacco and alcohol use at the workplace.Policies requiring healthy foods to be served at company meetings and events.Policies allowing for flextime to exercise or attend health programs.

How do you write a health care policy?

Step 1: Define the Problem. What is the issue or the problem? ... Step 2: State the Policy. Identify 1–3 specific policy actions that will address the problem. ... Step 3: Make Your Case. ... Step 4: Discuss the Impact.

What are the types of healthcare policies?

10 important healthcare policies for your facilityPatient care policies. ... Workplace health and safety policies. ... Information security policy. ... Data privacy and IT security. ... Drug handling. ... Administrative and HR policies. ... Social media policies. ... BYOD policy.More items...•

What does "by signing the above" mean?

By signing the above, I agree to abide by these terms and understand that a violation may result in my loss of access to the portal.

Is portal included in chart?

All communication via portal will be included in you chart.

Can a member of the staff read your messages?

Any member of our staff may read your messages or reply in order to help the Physician that has been e-mailed. This is similar to how a phone message is handled.

What is a patient portal?

The Patient Portal is a webpage that uses encryption and other security measures designed to keep unauthorized persons from reading information or attachments. Secure information is designed to be read only by someone who knows the correct password to log in to the Patient Portal.

Is email list confidential?

All email address lists will be kept confidential and such lists will not be shared with other parties, unless necessary to carry out Patient Portal operations (e.g. perform system upgrades to the Portal) or as required by law.

Does Heartland Cardiology have electronic access?

As a service to our patients, Heartland Cardiology offers secure, electronic access to portions of their medical record. As a reminder, all patients must sign the Patient Portal Consent form and agree to the Terms and Conditions in order to use the patient portal.

What is the patient portal?

The Patient Portal may, from time to time, include information posted by Clermont Medical Center in the form of news, opinions, or general educational materials that should not be construed as specific medical advice or instruction from Clermont Medical Center. Information within the Patient Portal is not intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. The information posted by Clermont Medical Center on the Patient Portal should not be considered complete, nor should it be relied on to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. You should always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and you should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you may have read on the Patient Portal.

What is Clermont Medical Center's patient portal?

Clermont Medical Center’s Patient Portal offers its established patients secure electronic access to portions of their medical record. All patients must agree to the Terms and Conditions in order to use the patient portal.

Is email list confidential?

All email address lists will be kept confidential and such lists will not be shared with other parties, unless necessary to carry out Patient Portal operations (e.g. perform system upgrades to the Portal) or as required by law.

What is patient portal?

The Patient Portal may include general information or education that should not be construed as specific medical advice or instruction. Nothing in the Patient Portal is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered complete or relied on to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. You should always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and you should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of general information or education you may find on the Patient Portal. When Unity Care NW posts information provided by a third party, Unity Care NW will make reasonable efforts to credit the source. Unity Care NW does not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the information posted, but believes all statements made to be reliable and accurate based upon representations made by the authors themselves. Unity Care NW accepts no fault or liability for any error or omission with respect to such statements.

Is Unity Care NW secure?

In our on-going commitment to improve services, Unity Care NW offers secure online access to some of your medical records and the ability to communicate with your provider and care team for patients 18 years and over or be the guarantor/guardian of a child between the ages of 0-12 years of age. Secure messaging can be a helpful tool, but has certain risks. By checking the box, you accept the risks and agree to follow the Terms of Use as described below.

What is MHAV in Vanderbilt?

My Health at Vanderbilt (MHAV) is an institutionally developed patient portal which launched in a limited fashion in 2003 before being more widely deployed throughout all clinical specialties starting in 2007 ( Figure 1 ). The VUMC informatics, legal and operational teams internally established policies and procedures to govern MHAV use by patients, proxies, and healthcare providers. The initial policies are described by Osborn et al. 29 MHAV and its associated EHR were certified for Meaningful Use stages 1 and 2. MHAV supports core functionality similar to those of other patient portals, including secure messaging, appointment scheduling, bill management, access to select laboratory results, and access to select EHR data. 29,32 There were incremental changes to usage logging and functionality throughout the duration of continuous use.

What is a surrogate proxy account?

Surrogate accounts were proxy accounts held by competent adults that give access to MHAV as a stand in for individuals who did not meet eligibility criteria for having their own independent account. This included children, adolescents, and adults lacking the capacity for medical decision making. For children age 0–12, a parent or guardian could serve as a surrogate proxy and have full access to the child's account unless prohibited by a formal legal ruling provided by a judge (such as what might occur in the case of domestic abuse). For children age 13–17, a parent or guardian could have surrogate access to the child's account only if both the parent and teenager mutually agree to establish a MHAV account for the teenager with the parent or guardian serving as a proxy. In the case of a teenage account, certain clinical information was unavailable in MHAV to respect state laws around the teenager's privacy, such as health records containing information about sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy or testing for drug use. Last, surrogate proxy accounts were available to those supporting the healthcare of adults who lack the capacity to make medical decisions, such as for the adult children of an individual who has developed advanced dementia, or for the parents of an adult with severe autism. All categories of surrogate access had set expiration dates and had to be reviewed and renewed periodically, including when a child turned 13 and when a teenager turned 18. These expiration dates forced patients and their proxies periodically to reconsider whether they wanted the proxy access to continue, especially as patients moved from one access category to another.

What is proxy access?

Proxy access is defined as an access class in which one individual receives access to another individual’s protected health information, communication tools, and functions in MHAV. In all cases, the proxy had to meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the table, even if the patient did not. Individuals could serve as proxies for competent adult patients, patients who were children or adolescents, and adult patients who met legal criteria for lacking the capacity to make medical decisions. VUMC policy distinguished two general categories of proxies: delegates and surrogates. The policy defined delegates as “an adult individual invited by a MHAV account holder to have access to that account holder’s MHAV account,” and stipulated that the account holder be a competent adult. For example, a competent adult may invite her spouse, adult friend, and adult child aged 18 or older to have delegate access to her account.

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals are web- and mobile-based programs that allow patients and their proxies remotely to interact with healthcare systems and their care providers. 1–3 These portals commonly allow users to view selected information from the electronic health record (EHR), review test results, message providers, schedule appointments, and pay medical bills. 4 A report by the Institute of Medicine specifies online access to personal health records, such as patient portals, as a promising technology to support patient engagement. 5 Functionality delivered through patient portals has been shown to improve chronic disease management, increase adherence to preventive care such as immunizations and screening, improve patient satisfaction, and better outcomes for some patients with chronic disease. 6–14

How long have patient portals been around?

Patient portals have been in use for nearly two decades, but adoption has increased recently in response to consumer demand and government regulations, such as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act). 15 They have been implemented in diverse settings, including large academic medical centers, primary and specialty care practices, and community hospitals. 16 Implementing and maintaining patient portals may require significant capital and resource investments 17 Understanding how patients and health systems use the portal to support patient engagement and self-management is important to evolving functionality and improving patient engagement. 18–20 Studies have been conducted to understand ways in which the patient portal meets the needs of patients and their caregivers. 20–25

Why is patient portal use increasing?

Patient portal use has increased over the last two decades in response to consumer demand and government regulation. Despite growing adoption, few guidelines exist to direct successful implementation and governance. We describe the policies and procedures that have governed over a decade of continuous My Health at Vanderbilt (MHAV) patient portal use.

What is a well designed patient portal?

Well-designed patient portals, when combined with policies that promote use, offer significant opportunity for patients to engage in their healthcare. Without proper management, portals can suffer from decreased use and poor support from providers. In this work, we discuss the patient portal policies that govern account registration and management, shared access, and test result reporting at VUMC. We anticipate that other organizations can implement concepts from our policies to support the meaningful use of patient portals.