what info can be found in a patient portal

by Breanne Muller 7 min read

What is a patient portal? | HealthIT.gov

26 hours ago Sep 29, 2017 · 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 >> Go To The 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

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.Aug 13, 2020

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How online patient portals are transforming health care?

Sep 29, 2017 · 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

How do you set up a patient portal?

Feb 18, 2022 · 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. For access, you will need to set up an account.

What do the best patient portals have in common?

Aug 08, 2017 · As healthcare information technology has continued to mature, a notable area of growth has been the use of web and application-based patient portals. A patient portal is an application that allows patients to have access to parts of their medical records from their primary care doctor, specialists, or other Healthcare organizations. Patients log into patient …

What can I do on the patient portal?

Dec 02, 2021 · 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. You can use patient portals to retrieve lab results, ask a question or update patient profiles and insurance providers.

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What information can be accessed through a patient portal?

The features of patient portals may vary, but typically you can securely view and print portions of your medical record, including recent doctor visits, discharge summaries, medications, immunizations, allergies, and most lab results anytime and from anywhere you have Web access.

What are the five main features of the new healthcare portal?

5 Key Features Every Patient Portal Needs to OfferExcellent user experience. ... Branding flexibility. ... Flexible financing options. ... Loyalty rewards and incentives. ... Integration with existing systems.May 12, 2020

What information is excluded from a patient portal?

Information Excluded from the Right of Access This may include certain quality assessment or improvement records, patient safety activity records, or business planning, development, and management records that are used for business decisions more generally rather than to make decisions about individuals.

What types of data are included in a patient portal and PHR?

What information goes into a PHR?Your doctor's names and phone numbers.Allergies, including drug allergies.Your medications, including dosages.List and dates of illnesses and surgeries.Chronic health problems, such as high blood pressure.Living will or advance directives.Family history.Immunization history.

What is a patient portal in healthcare?

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.Sep 29, 2017

What makes a good patient portal?

In order to help you evaluate common portal capabilities, we asked patients which portal features they would need the most: Scheduling appointments online. Viewing health information (e.g., lab results or clinical notes) Viewing bills/making payments.Jul 24, 2019

What are the benefits and challenges of using patient portals?

What are the benefits of patient portals?Patient portals are efficient. ... Patient portals improve communication. ... They store health information in one place. ... Patient portals satisfy meaningful use standards. ... They improve data accuracy. ... Patient portals make refilling prescriptions easy. ... They're available whenever you need them.More items...•Jul 15, 2019

What are some examples where PHI can be used and disclosed without a patient's authorization?

A covered entity is permitted, but not required, to use and disclose protected health information, without an individual's authorization, for the following purposes or situations: (1) To the Individual (unless required for access or accounting of disclosures); (2) Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations; (3) ...Dec 28, 2000

Are patient portals covered by HIPAA?

Patient portals contain information that constitutes electronic protected health information (ePHI) under the HIPAA Security Rule. ePHI is defined as any protected health information (PHI) that is created, stored, transmitted, or received in any electronic format or media.Sep 9, 2019

How do patient portals and personal health records differ?

Traditionally, a Patient Portal is an extension of an EHR, EMR, or Hospital system. ... On the other hand, the Personal Health Record (PHR) is more patient centric, is controlled by a patient or family member, and may or may not be connected to a doctor or hospital (i.e. it may be tethered or untethered).Sep 6, 2012

What is the difference between personal health records and patient portals?

A tethered PHR, as defined by the ONC, is an online interface tied to an EHR with which patients may view and sometimes interact with their health data. ... 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.Feb 17, 2017

How does a patient obtain personal health records?

The patient accesses the information through a secure portal. Typically, patients can view information such as lab results, immunization history or due dates for certain screenings. These are called tethered PHRs or connected PHRs.

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.

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 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.

What is portal in EHR?

In the EHR model, the portal is an extension of a vendor’s core electronic health record system. A Healthcare organization will usually launch the portal at the same time or shortly after the activation of the core EHR. Most of the data that patients see when they log into the portal is only from that organization’s system.

What is progress note?

The progress note is written in medical terminology, and is not directed toward the patient. A patient can specifically request to view progress notes through formal records requests, but this is not a routine practice for most patients.

What is meaningful use?

Meaningful use is the Federal legislation that mandates the use of Healthcare Technology for most providers in the US. It has three stages phased in over several years. Each stage has requirements that increase from previous stages.

How long does an authorization code last?

The authorization code automatically expires if they don’t finish the process, usually from between 14 and 30 days. Healthcare organizations who are trying to increase their portal sign-up ratio prefer the first option because it gets the sign-up process out of the way.

Know Your Options

Evaluate your options and create a long-term strategy. By assessing the full range of portal components, you can then determine which capabilities will best suit your practice.

Registering

Save the patient time in the office. When registration is completed prior to an appointment, patients spend less time in the waiting room and more time engaged in their care.

Secure Messaging

When your patient portal is integrated with your EHR system, secure messaging provides an efficient way to exchange information with both patients and other providers.

Providing Educational Materials

Diagnoses and treatment plans can be difficult for patients to understand and remember. In order to reinforce this information, practices have been giving patients supplemental printed materials for years. And now, with a portal, patients can access these materials online.

Ask for Patient Feedback

It is important to communicate with your patients and ask for feedback about your practice’s performance and services—including your patient portal. In order to get tips from them for making the portal more useful, Ms.

When did PHMG start patient portal?

PHMG launched the patient portal in early 2010. As a first step, the physician champion piloted the portal for about 6 months before it was implemented in one clinic at a time. According to the physician champion, implementation was “easier than expected because everyone was already comfortable with eClinicalWorks, ...

What are the challenges of the portal?

One major challenge with the portal is the multiple step registration process . Patients provide their e‐mail address at the front desk and are given a password to register from home. Some patients fail to complete the registration process after leaving the clinic. Remembering and managing passwords and managing family accounts are also challenging for patients. For example, a parent may log in for one child and then ask questions about a second child. For providers and staff, a challenge is that there is no way to know whether a Web‐enabled patient actually uses the portal and there are no read receipts to confirm that patients have read a message.

What is the PHMG strategy?

PHMG had a strategy of ensuring that patients hear about the portal from multiple sources during each clinical visit. To execute this strategy, PHMG used several methods of communication, including:

When did PHMG implement EHR?

In 2007 PHMG implemented an EHR system, eClinicalWorks, as part of a strategy to improve quality of care and facilitate coordination of care across its multiple clinic locations. In preparing for implementation, PHMG proceeded with:

Is the portal easy to use?

It’s really very easy to use. If you use the Internet, you’ll most likely find the portal helpful and easy to navigate. They found that it is particularly persuasive when providers encourage patients to use the portal because patients trust providers and value their opinions.

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