what are benefits of a patient portal

by Abbigail Stehr 7 min read

Patient Portal Benefits Patient Care and Provider …

7 hours ago Sep 19, 2017 · Patient Portal Benefits Patient Care and Provider Workflow About Primary Heath Medical Group. PHMG is an independent medical group with 11 clinics in southwest Idaho, provides... Electronic Health Record Implementation Highlights. In 2007 PHMG implemented an EHR system, eClinicalWorks, as part of ... >> Go To The Portal


Here are the three primary benefits to using a patient portal:

  1. Improved Communication A patient portal makes it easier for patients and physicians to communicate with each other. ...
  2. More Convenient Another benefit of a patient portal is the convenience. Patients can also see their lab results faster through the portal. ...
  3. Better Patient Engagement

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

Full Answer

How do you benefit from your patient portal?

Sep 19, 2017 · Patient Portal Benefits Patient Care and Provider Workflow About Primary Heath Medical Group. PHMG is an independent medical group with 11 clinics in southwest Idaho, provides... Electronic Health Record Implementation Highlights. In 2007 PHMG implemented an EHR system, eClinicalWorks, as part of ...

What are the advantages of the patient portal?

Apr 01, 2022 · With a patient portal: You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day. You... You can access all of your personal health information from all of your providers in one place. If you have a team of... E-mail reminders and alerts help ...

How to get your patients to use your patient portal?

Feb 10, 2015 · A main advantage of the patient portal is that the data are current, while the data in the PHR are current only when the patient updates it. Without a patient portal as an intermediary, the patient would not be able to access the …

What is the value of a patient portal?

Sep 07, 2020 · Benefits of Patient Portals Access To Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Saves Patients & Staff Time. A patient with access to their patient portal can access their medical records at any time via the Internet. No more having to wait in line at the doctor’s office just for some paperwork.

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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 are the advantages of providing Internet access to patients with a patient portal?

Patient portals have been demonstrated to do the following: improve medication adherence, disease awareness, and self-management of disease, decrease office visits, increase preventative medicine, and increase office visit duration at the patient's request for additional information.Aug 1, 2018

Are patient portals effective?

Patient portal interventions were overall effective in improving a few psychological outcomes, medication adherence, and preventive service use. There was insufficient evidence to support the use of patient portals to improve clinical outcomes.

How do patient portals improve patient outcomes?

Most of the portal interventions used tailored alerts or educational resources tailored to the patient's condition. Patient portal interventions lead to improvements in a wide range of psychobehavioral outcomes, such as health knowledge, self-efficacy, decision making, medication adherence, and preventive service use.Dec 19, 2019

What are the benefits of online services for healthcare professionals?

Video conferencing, smartphone apps, and online management systems connect more patients with providers than ever before.Telemedicine Cost Effectiveness & Healthcare Savings.Extended Specialist and Referring Physician Access.Better Patient Care Quality.Technical Training and Equipment.Reduced Care Continuity.More items...

What are the disadvantages of a patient portal?

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.Nov 11, 2021

What should be 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...

How do patients feel about patient portals?

Some patients recognize the role of patient portals in their health care, reporting satisfaction with the ability to communicate with their health care teams and perform tasks such as requesting prescription refills conveniently [3,16].

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

Why do some patients fail to participate in the use of the patient portal?

The reason why most patients do not want to use their patient portal is because they see no value in it, they are just not interested. The portals do not properly incentivize the patient either intellectually (providing enough data to prove useful) or financially.

What is a patient portal quizlet?

Patient Portal. Web-based service that provides patients online access to their health information and allows them to communicate with their healthcare provider, schedule appointments, view billing statements, and accomplish more health-related tasks.

What are the benefits of patient portals?

1. Patient portals are efficient. Patient portals allow you and your office staff to quickly deliver lab tests and confirm appointments without repeated phone calls. 2.

What is HIPAA privacy?

HIPAA privacy rules offer protections that grow with children. Parents have full access to their child’s account up to a certain age, at which point teens take control of their own health, often through a portal that makes this automatic.

What are meaningful use standards?

Meaningful use standards provide minimal criteria for securing and delivering electronic health records. Although the term “meaningful use” is now outdated, the ideas behind the term are not. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the goal of meaningful use standards are as follows: 1 Improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities 2 Increase patient engagement 3 Improve care coordination 4 Expand population and public health 5 Ensure adequate privacy and security protection for personal health information

Why is video conferencing important?

If your practice is in a rural area , or if many of your patients have limited mobility , video conferencing and messaging allows patients to experience the same quality of care.

What is meaningful use?

Meaningful use standards provide minimal criteria for securing and delivering electronic health records. Although the term “meaningful use” is now outdated, the ideas behind the term are not. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the goal of meaningful use standards are as follows:

Is patient portal safe?

Your office cannot simply set up a free website and expect patients to allow their medical data to be posted there! But good news: patient portals are safe.

Why do patients use portals?

This ability for patients to request appointments, referrals, and prescription refills directly from the portal increases the efficiency of your clinical staff, allowing them to keep their focus on assisting you with the patients who have the most urgent care needs and questions.

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals provide the ability for patients to have 24-hour access to connect with their provider by reviewing patient health information (PHI), asking and answering questions, and reviewing notes, making the patient-physician relationship closer than ever.

What are the benefits of cloud based patient portals?

As you can see, there are a host of benefits medical providers can take advantage of by using cloud based patient portals Better communication, elimination of paperwork, unrestricted electronic access, better relationships, improved outcomes, and an optimized workflow – all of these benefits can be achieved with one piece of technology.

Why are portals important?

In addition to strengthening patient-provider relationships, portals can make tasks like requesting prescription refills and referrals more convenient. This ease of access leads to greater patient compliance and improved clinical outcomes.

What is portal in medical office?

Portals give patients electronic access to tasks that would have previously required assistance from the medical office team. When patients have online access, staff can spend less time scheduling appointments, writing down refill needs, and answering questions about referrals. Ultimately that means a more efficient medical office workflow.

What are the benefits of a patient portal?

Expand Section. With a patient portal: You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day . You do not need to wait for office hours or returned phone calls to have basic issues resolved. You can access all of your personal health information from all ...

How to access a patient portal?

With a patient portal: 1 You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day. You do not need to wait for office hours or returned phone calls to have basic issues resolved. 2 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. This can lead to better care and better management of your medicines. 3 E-mail reminders and alerts help you to remember things like annual checkups and flu shots.

How much does an e-visit cost?

For minor issues, such as a small wound or rash, you can get diagnosis and treatment options online. This saves you a trip to the provider's office. E-visits cost around $30.

Why is educational content important for patients?

Educational content hosted on patient portals can make it easier for patients to take a more active role in their care. They can have access to relevant information about their conditions, medications, all in one place on the Internet. Patients no longer have to sift through a stack of pamphlets just to get the information they need.

Why is patient engagement important?

Engaged patients have better health outcomes, are more satisfied with their care, and are more likely to return to the organization in the future. Educational content hosted on patient portals can make it easier for patients to take a more active role ...

What is CRM in healthcare?

Your CRM, if set up correctly, can act as a single source of truth about your organization. It can include information about patient outreach campaigns and their conversion rates. Your CRM can also be a place where all patient information is securely stored and accessed.

Can administrative staff copy medical records?

What’s even nicer is that administrative staff, who used to spend a great deal of time copying medical records and updating the audit trail, can now simply direct the patient to their portal so that they can get the information electronically.

Can a patient have access to their own medical records?

Now, patients can take a much more active role in their care by having nearly instant access to their own medical records. In the past, a patient had to get medical records by showing up to the doctor’s office and asking them for a copy. Now, most of the information is digitized. But that’s not all patient portals can do.

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals meet some Meaningful Use requirements. Providing patient-specific educational resources, clinical summaries, and access to personal health information are all components of Meaningful Use that can be achieved through use of the portal. Increase patients' engagement in and ownership of their own health.

How do portals increase patient loyalty?

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.

Who is Courtney Edelson?

For several years, Courtney Edelson was the Marketing Content Manager at PCC. She wrote for the PCC Blog, and created additional content to keep pediatricians up to date on important healthcare industry news and trends. In addition to being a lifelong writer, Courtney brought nearly a decade of healthcare practice management experience to her work.

Can patients view their visit notes?

Patients can view their visit notes in the portal. Show patients their care plan details in the portal. With some patient portals, such as PCC's, a parent can easily login once and access information for all siblings.

Can you access the portal via smart phones?

Mobile access is easy. Providers and patients can access the portal via smart phones or tablets when not on the computer. Patients have the ability to check upcoming appointments, saving a phone call to the office.

Is a patient portal worth it?

The many benefits of a patient portal are certainly worth the initial work of getting everyone on board. With regular use, your practice should see greater patient engagement and satisfaction, and a more streamlined workflow that saves time and effort for staff and providers.

What happens when patients cannot communicate in real time?

When patients cannot communicate in real time, providers can miss opportunities to identify nonadherence. Thus, there is heavy focus on designing portals and apps similar to MyMeds, which incorporates bidirectional communication between providers and patients.

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.

What is mHealth app?

mHealth apps will offer an alternative and an additional method of communication. Specialty pharmacies will cater to the patient’s preferred communication style while also being innovative in clinical management of patient care.

Is a patient portal a form of mHealth?

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 for patient-initiated health or disease management.

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Better Patient Communication

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Patients are able to utilize the portal to accomplish tasks that would normally require a phone call, or even multiple phone calls. This ability for patients to request appointments, referrals, and prescription refills directly from the portal increases the efficiency of your clinical staff, allowing them to keep their focus o
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Streamline Patient Registration and Administrative Tasks

  • Patient portals allow registration forms to be completed electronically prior to appointment check-in, keeping front-office work efficient. This means that instead of walking patients through which forms to fill out and how, your front office staff can instead focus on the patient in front of them and any questions they may need answered, ensuring that by the time the patient reaches you th…
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Greater Focus on Patient Care

  • The ability to easily access and share patient information electronically eases one of the main distractions on physicians’ time today. Instead of focusing on finding what you need in the patient’s chart or figuring out how you’ll get those records to the provider you’re referring your patient to, you can focus solely on providing a higher standard of care, which is why you becam…
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