what is meaningful use patient portal

Patient portals, generally speaking, are a health IT interface on which patients can view their own protected health information (PHI). Although this can be viewed as a good thing because patients do have the right to see their own health data, it also opens doors for security concerns.

Full Answer

How do you benefit from your patient portal?

Portal Use According to Stage 2 Meaningful Use Criteria Open in a separate window * The patient reminders data includes only patients who viewed a preventive care summary in the portal without prompting. At the time of the study, reminders were not enabled.

How to get your patients to use your patient portal?

Many physicians are adopting patient portals in response to governmental incentives for meaningful use (MU), but the stage 2 requirements for portal use may be particularly challenging for newer electronic health record (EHR) users. This study examined enrollment, use based on MU requirements, and s …

What are the benefits of a patient portal?

Jun 01, 2013 · What is meaningful use? Meaningful Use To qualify for incentive payments through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services EHR Incentive Programs, eligible providers and hospitals must demonstrate meaningful use of an electronic health record (EHR).

What is the value of a patient portal?

Nov 10, 2014 · In order to qualify for CMS Meaningful Use Stage 2 incentives, eligible providers need to ensure that at least 5% of their patients use the provider’s “patient portal.” This means that patients must send an online message to their clinician, or patients need to view, download or transmit health information via the portal.

Meaningful Use

To qualify for incentive payments through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services EHR Incentive Programs, eligible providers and hospitals must demonstrate meaningful use of an electronic health record (EHR).

For More Information

For more information on meaningful use and how achieving meaningful use can help you improve health care quality and patient outcomes, see the following resources.

How do portals help patients?

Portals can yield actual value for providers by boosting clinical and financial outcomes. They have the potential to drive patient engagement, patient satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and health outcomes. This is how it can be done.

Why do caregivers use patient portals?

While most caregivers adopt patient portals just because MU requires it, portals can bring value across clinical and financial dimensions. For many providers, Meaningful Use was the trigger to adopt patient portals, the main function of which is to give patients timely access to their health information. However, there is more to that.

What is EHR incentive?

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs encourage patient involvement in their health care. Online access to health information allows patients to make informed decisions about their care and share their most recent clinical information with other health care providers and personal caregivers.

Does CMS require growth charts?

However, because this certification capability is not required, eligible professionals and hospitals do not need to generate and make growth charts available in order to meet the objective.

Can a patient opt out of health information?

A: A patient can choose not to access their health information, or “opt-out.” Patients cannot be removed from the denominator for opting out of receiving access. If a patient opts out, a provider may count them in the numerator if they have been given all the information necessary to opt back in without requiring any follow up action from the provider, including, but not limited to, a user ID and password, information on the patient website, and how to create an account.

Can a provider withhold information from a patient's website?

However, the provider may withhold any information from online disclosure if he or she believes that providing such information may result in significant harm.

What are the benefits of patient portals?

One of the clearest benefits to a patient portal is the added ability for communication between patients and providers, and these benefits are felt strongest with regard to chronically ill patients.

What is portal email?

The portal is just a secure e-mail system that we can use to communicate. You can send me a message and it goes right into your chart, so I have all of your information at hand when I read it and respond. If you use it and don’t like it, you don’t have to continue to use it. Just let us know.

Why are reminders important?

Reminders from providers, and the capability for patients to discuss issues with their physicians, help increase patient engagement and therefore play a role in boosting the patient’s overall health.

Is a patient portal good?

Although this can be viewed as a good thing because patients do have the right to see their own health data, it also opens doors for security concerns. A patient portal may be just one more place for a potential hacker or healthcare data thief to access a patient’s data, leaving that patient liable to identity theft.