ehr and patient portal

How to use our patient portal?

Use Our Patient Portal. In order to access our patient portal, you need to be a current patient who has had at least one visit in our office. Our front desk can supply you with a temporary portal password after you contact us with a valid email address. Once you have your email and temporary password, you can reach our portal directly from the ...

Why to use patient portals?

• Patient engagement: active involvement of patients in their own health care
• User perceptions: thoughts, feelings, and opinions of patients, caregivers, and health care team members about their experiences with a patient portal
• Health outcomes: impact of patient portals on clinical indicators

More items...

What is the purpose of the patient portal?

With a patient portal, you can:

• Make appointments (non-urgent)
• Request referrals
• Refill prescriptions
• Check benefits
• Update insurance or contact information
• Make payments to your provider's office
• Complete forms
• Ask questions through secure e-mail

Do patients use patient portals?

Reaction to the patient portal implementation has been very positive. Patients appreciate the convenience, for example, of being able to contact the practice at any time of day or night. For many patients, the use of Web-based information and electronic communication is “second nature”; consequently, they are comfortable using the portal.

Is a patient portal an EHR?

PHRs, EHRs and patient portals But EHRs contain more extensive information because they're used by health care providers to store visit notes, test results and much more. A PHR that is tied to an EHR is called a patient portal.

What is the purpose of a patient 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.

What is an EMR portal?

These portals are secure online platforms that provide immediate access to the patients on their health records, schedule appointments, pay bills, and enable secure conversations with providers.

Why is patient portal important in healthcare?

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.

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 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.

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.

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

Five key features to look for in an EHR patient portalEasy to follow user interface. ... Messaging and communication. ... Registration. ... Scheduling. ... Enhanced security.

What should be included 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...

Do patient portals improve outcomes?

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.

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.

How do patient portals improve patient engagement?

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 are the five main features of the new healthcare portal?

Five key features to look for in an EHR patient portalEasy to follow user interface. ... Messaging and communication. ... Registration. ... Scheduling. ... Enhanced security.

What should be included 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 effective are patient portals?

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.

What information is excluded from a patient portal?

However, it also had to exclude behavioral health, protected minor visits, research records, business records, and other sensitive record content. The portal automatically downloads or excludes documents based on type or provider, says Meadows, who helped solidify a process for integrating the portal with the EHR.

What is patient portal?

The foundation of a solid patient engagement program rests on an effective patient portal that can allow patients to engage their providers and vice versa. An EHR patient portal provides an online platform patients can access their records, receive information from their provider regarding their care and benefits, allow for an electronic medium for among many other features depending on the sophistication of the portal. When searching for a startup or replacement patient portal what features should be present for a practice to leverage a portal to increase patient engagement?

Why is back and forth communication important in EHR?

Back and forth communication between patients and providers is key to patient education and for handling problems related to confusion regarding care beyond the office. An EHR patient portal should offer an easy to use messaging system that can allow communication directly to and from parties involved in patient care.

How does patient engagement affect healthcare?

Patient engagement factors heavily in the future of healthcare services, from both the perspective of Meaningful Use regulations and in the context of using an EHR to provide more cost efficient services and improve the quality of care. Research reported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shows that when patients are not engaged in their care, practices waste resources due to repetitive patient education efforts, increased diagnostic tests, and a greater need for referrals. Furthermore, the research shows increases in patient engagement have been linked improved patient outcomes across a number of metrics and have been shown to reduce the rate of preventable readmissions.

Why is it important to allow patients to register online?

Allowing patients to register online can reduce wait times and allow less workload on front desk staff.

Can patients access EHR portal?

Although this is probably more aptly described as a set of features or characteristics of an EHR patient portal, patients should not have to struggle to access and navigate the portal. The best test for accessibility is to consider the least tech savvy person you know and consider whether they would experience difficulty using the portal. If so, it may be appropriate to find one that users will find less daunting.

Does a portal need to be updated?

Further, a portal should have adequate password protection that requires the user password to be updated periodically and automatically logs the user out after a period of inactivity or blocks a user after a set number of incorrect password entries.

Is a patient portal required to be encrypted?

Your patient portal should exceed Meaningful Use requirements at a minimum. To ensure data privacy information communicated via a patient portal should be encrypted which exceed HIPAA requirements and provides further protection against accidentally misdirected or hacked personal health information from being read by the wrong party. Further, a portal should have adequate password protection that requires the user password to be updated periodically and automatically logs the user out after a period of inactivity or blocks a user after a set number of incorrect password entries.

What is EHR portal support?

The EHR patient portal support team is a security blanket for patients. They feel their information is protected, in their control, and comes with support when they have technological or care issues.

How long does it take to reset a patient's EHR?

In our experience, it takes 12 minutes to walk a patient through all aspects of portal use and six minutes to do a password reset (which comprise 99 percent of calls). Compared to a 30-minute wait time at an in-person visit or call, this time spent with your EHR patient portal support team is minimal. This greatly helps organizations deliver exceptional customer service and patient satisfaction.

What does expedited connections to providers and results give patients?

Expedited connections to providers and results gives patients a sense of security, trust and health system loyalty.

What is the lifeblood of healthcare?

Patients are the lifeblood of healthcare, moreso than ever in today’s post-pandemic world.

What Makes for a Good EHR?

Streamlined, smooth, and easy to understand - for you, and the patient .

Why is it important to have access to your own medical records?

By allowing them to access their own medical records in a simple and streamlined way, you're setting your patients up for greater personal agency in their own health.

What happens if you choose an EHR with an integrated portal solution?

If you choose an EHR with an integrated portal solution, costs and productivity loss due to training go down as well. The vendor takes care of training for both products during the implementation process, so you’ll be up and running in no time.

How long does it take for EHR to sync with patient portal?

It can take from three to six months for two companies to sync software together depending on the issues they encounter.

Is patient portal more expensive?

Patient portal costs usually vary depending on the functionality you need from the software – the more capabilities, the more expensive. On the other hand, if your EHR comes equipped with a patient portal, you won’t have to make any additional payments for an independent solution.

Can you integrate EHR and portal?

The main problem with integrating an EHR and a portal from two different sources is that while they may work well together at first, they don’t always continue to do so in the long run. Say your EHR vendor makes a change to their software, the portal vendor will then have to update their solution accordingly. In this case, you will have to wait for the two to sync up again.

Do you pay monthly for an EHR?

Depending on whether you purchase a client-server EHR or a cloud-based solution, you’ll either pay a lump sum upfront or a regular monthly payment. Purchasing a separate patient portal to integrate with your EHR solution will add another monthly payment on top of what you’re already paying.

Is portal adoption mandatory?

It seems like portal adoption is almost mandatory at this point. While some health IT vendors offer EHRs that have a native portal built into the software, many do not. Physicians who adopt an electronic health record without an integrated portal are then tasked with finding an independent portal offering that syncs with their EHR.

Can you combine EHR and portal?

Going with an EHR already combined with a portal is a much faster solution. The only thing you have to worry about is training in time for your practice to catch the start date of Stage 2. Although combining separate EHR and patient portal offerings may technically work, it doesn’t mean it’s the best solution.

What are the benefits of patient portal?

Reaction to the patient portal implementation has been very positive. Patients appreciate the convenience, for example, of being able to contact the practice at any time of day or night . For many patients, the use of Web-based information and electronic communication is “second nature”; consequently, they are comfortable using the portal. As one clinician observed, “Lots of patients are accustomed to using electronic communication now. They don’t want to have to pick up the phone anymore.” Clinicians and staff members appreciate that the portal reduces call volume and “provides a fluid line of communication that works well.” They noted that communication via the portal helped to reduce miscommunication and delays that sometimes occur with phone communication.

How to get the most value from an EHR?

To get the most value from an EHR, practices will need to invest time in training and preparation. Some customization of the system will likely be needed based on how the practice functions and the individual work styles of the various providers.

What are the limitations of EHR?

The limitations of the EHR and the patient portal have presented challenges, such as the inability to send clinical summaries to patients via the portal. The practice can only move ahead with certain aspects of patient and family engagement as quickly as the system is upgraded.

Why are patients interested in portals?

Patients may be especially interested in the portal at particular moments, such as when they are frustrated with telephone wait times or playing “telephone tag.” Staff members take these opportunities to encourage patients to use the portal.

How long does it take for a nurse to respond to a patient?

The practice established standards for response times of within 4 hours for more urgent questions to 2 days for prescription refills

When did Dover Family Physicians adopt EHR?

Dover Family Physicians adopted an electronic health record (EHR) system in 2008 with a goal of improving the quality of patient care and especially strengthening preventive care services. The practice has focused on ways to use the EHR to engage patients and their family members in their health and healthcare through a patient portal implementation. The practice, located in Dover, Delaware, has four physicians and two physician assistants, and provides primary care to more than 800 patients weekly.

Do patients need to be educated about clinical summaries?

The providers noted that patients need to be educated about clinical summaries, otherwise “many clinical summaries are likely to end up in the trash.” Consequently, providers explain the contents, purpose, and benefits of the clinical summary to patients.

Overview

Patient portals improve the way in which patients and health care providers interact. A product of meaningful use requirements, they were mandated as a way to provide patients with timely access to their health care. Specifically, patient portals give patients access to their health information to take a more active role.

Primary Benefits

No matter the type of platform you choose, your patient portal can provide your patients with secure online access to their medical details and increase their engagement with your practice. And not to mention that it does so while providing several benefits for health care providers as well. Some of these benefits include:

Notable Challenges

While many people have used a patient portal by now, they have mixed reviews at best. As you can see in the section above, there are plenty of benefits that patient portals provide. But unfortunately, their potential has yet to be fully harnessed.

Emerging Trends

If patient portals are a mixed bag, why should the patient portal receive greater consideration in the EHR, EMR and practice management selection processes? Because when you look at current industry trends, patient portals are well on their way to improving. Some of these trends include:

How to Use a Patient Portal

With patient portals, the first and foremost thing you will need is a computer and a working internet connection. Create a customized user’s account in the software to avail medical services on your own. Once you enter the patient portal, click on links and products sold by the provider and tap into a new experience.

Solution Evaluation

Now that you know what a patient portal is and given the potential and growing importance, how should you evaluate the best portal for your practice or facility? You can select a standalone patient portal that a third-party vendor commonly hosts through the cloud as a health care provider.

Final Thoughts

It’s clear that using a patient portal software can provide several benefits for your medical practice. After accounting for these nine considerations, you should be ready to start using a patient portal. The only decision left to make is which platform you’ll use.

Easy to Follow User Interface

Messaging and Communication

• Back and forth communication between patients and providers is key to patient education and for handling problems related to confusion regarding care beyond the office. An EHR patient portal should offer an easy to use messaging system that can allow communication directly to and from parties involved in patient care.

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Registration

Scheduling

Enhanced Security