definition of patient portal

by Miss Karlee Zulauf 10 min read
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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

Full Answer

What are the benefits of a patient portal?

eventually benefit the interactive patients engagement accessibility solutions in the market. • Access to the patient portal may improve patient engagement and change the way healthcare is delivered, healthcare improvements are associated with specific ...

How do I access my Patient Portal?

You Choose the When and the Where

  • Use the Portal from anywhere using a browser
  • Access from your smartphone or tablet
  • Manage information 24X7, without waiting

How to access patient portal?

Access Patient Portal. Click Settings > Patient Portal . The Patient Portal Dashboard page launches in a web browser. An alternate way to access the Patient Portal is to: Open a web browser and type portal.kareo.com in the address bar. Click For Doctors on the bottom. The Patient Portal landing page opens. Click Sign in on the upper right.

What is the value of a patient portal?

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.

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What is the meaning of 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. Discharge summaries. Medications.

What types of patient portals are there?

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 features of a patient portal?

Key Features of Patient PortalsEncrypted and password-protected login to a personal profile.Health history, diagnoses, allergies, and chronic conditions view.Lab test results, discharge summaries view and download.Treatment, procedures, and medication plan view.More items...

What are the benefits of patient portals?

The truth is, there are a lot of benefits to using a patient portal for providers.Better Patient Communication. ... Streamline Patient Registration and Administrative Tasks. ... Greater Focus on Patient Care. ... Better Patient-Physician Relationships. ... Improve Clinical Outcomes. ... Optimize Medical Office Workflow.

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...•

How do you implement a patient portal?

9 Steps to Implement a New Patient Portal SolutionResearch Different Portal Solutions. ... Look for the Right Portal Features. ... Get Buy-In from Key Stakeholders. ... Evaluate and Enhance Existing Workflows. ... Develop a Comprehensive Onboarding Plan. ... Be Prepared for a Successful Go-Live. ... Seek Out Painless Portal Migration.

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 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.

Why do patients not use patient portals?

The researchers found no demographic differences among nonusers who said that a technology hurdle, lack of internet access or no online medical record was the reason why they did not make use of a patient portal.

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 the patient portal is empowering?

July 18, 2017 - Patients enjoy having patient portal health data access because it allows them to take ownership of their own care, makes them feel empowered as partners in their treatments, and helps them detect and identify errors their providers may have made in their medical records, according to a recent study.

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 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 are the disadvantages of patient portals?

As with any written communication, portal messages can be misinterpreted. When patients have more access to the same lab results as providers, they can worry over ranges that may be label as ‘high’ but are not really a problem. Security risks.

How long does it take for EHR to provide timely access to patient information?

Measure 1: More than 50 percent of all unique patients seen by eligible providers during the EHR reporting period are provided timely (available to the patient within 4 business days after the information is available to the provider) online access to their health information.

What are the advantages of a vendor-dependent portal?

1) Clinics who can’t afford or don’t want to pay for a vendor-dependent portal can still get the functionality they need, 2) Patients who seek care from multiple providers can aggregate their health data into one portal.

What is a progress note in a medical chart?

The progress note is written in medical terminology, and is not directed toward the patient.

What is interoperability in healthcare?

Vendors are well aware of this limitation and are working towards providing the ability to bring in data from other Healthcare organizations. This is referred to as interoperability. It is however a work in progress, and various vendors and Healthcare organizations are at different stages.

Patient Portals

More and more doctors, clinics, hospitals, and patients are using something known as patient portals. A patient portal is a secure website that allows patients to access their health information and, in many cases, connect with their physician.

Welcome Screen

Susan has been going to a doctor whose clinic uses MyChart for about a year now. When she logs into her MyChart account the first thing she sees is a welcome screen. The welcome screen contains numerous things. There is a notification section. She sees that she got a notification about a new test result.

Quick Links

The welcome page also contains numerous quick links on the right hand side of her screen. She sees her entire health care team listed on the side here, including all the doctors and specialists that look after her. Other quick links Susan can use include:

Top Navigation Bar

The Top Navigation Bar in MyChart has numerous menus. As of this writing they include the following:

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals are healthcare -related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers, such as physicians and hospitals . Typically, portal services are available on the Internet at all hours of the day and night. Some patient portal applications exist as stand-alone web sites ...

How do patient portals benefit patients?

Patient portals benefit both patients and providers by increasing efficiency and productivity. Patient portals are also regarded as a key tool to help physicians meet "meaningful use" requirements in order to receive federal incentive checks, especially for providing health information to patients.

What is HIPAA regulation?

Health care providers in the US are bound to comply with HIPAA regulations. These regulations specify what patient information must be held in confidence. Something as seemingly trivial as a name is viewed by HIPAA as protected health information.

What are the shortcomings of a patient portal?

The major shortcoming of most patient portals is their linkage to a single health organization. If a patient uses more than one organization for healthcare, the patient normally needs to log on to each organization's portal to access information. This results in a fragmented view of individual patient data.

What is e-visit?

E-visits (remote use of medical services) may soon become one of the most commonly used options of patient portals. The most likely demographic for uptake of e-visits are patients who live in remote rural areas, far from clinical services.

Is a patient portal HIPAA compliant?

While there may be systems that are not HIPAA compliant, certainly most patient and practice portals are secure and compliant with HIPAA regulations. The use of SSL and access control patterns are commonplace in the industry. Patient access is typically validated with a user name and password.

Do patient portals have to have a patient management system?

Most patient portals require the practice to have some type of electronic medical record or patient management system , as the patient data needs to be stored in a data repository then retrieved by the patient portal.

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.

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Overview

Patient portals are healthcare-related online applications that allow patients to interact and communicate with their healthcare providers, such as physicians and hospitals. Typically, portal services are available on the Internet at all hours of the day and night. Some patient portal applications exist as stand-alone web sites and sell their services to healthcare providers. Other portal applications are integrated into the existing web site of a healthcare provider. Still others …

Features and benefits

The central feature that makes any system a patient portal is the ability to expose individual patient health information in a secure manner through the Internet. In addition, virtually all patient portals allow patients to interact in some way with health care providers. Patient portals benefit both patients and providers by increasing efficiency and productivity. Patient portals are also regarded as a key tool to help physicians meet "meaningful use" requirements in order to receiv…

Disadvantages

The major shortcoming of most patient portals is their linkage to a single health organization. If a patient uses more than one organization for healthcare, the patient normally needs to log on to each organization's portal to access information. This results in a fragmented view of individual patient data.

Practice portals

Portal applications for individual practices typically exist in tandem with patient portals, allowing access to patient information and records, as well as schedules, payments, and messages from patients. Most patient portals require the practice to have some type of electronic medical record or patient management system, as the patient data needs to be stored in a data repository then retrieved by the patient portal. While lauding its ease-of-use, some physicians note that it is har…

Security

Health care providers in the US are bound to comply with HIPAA regulations. These regulations specify what patient information must be held in confidence. Something as seemingly trivial as a name is viewed by HIPAA as protected health information. For this reason, security has always been a top concern for the industry when dealing with the adoption of patient portals. While there may be systems that are not HIPAA compliant, certainly most patient and practice portals are se…

History

Internet portal technology has been in common use since the 1990s. The financial industry has been particularly adept at using the Internet to grant individual users access to personal information. Possibly because of the strictness of HIPAA regulations, or the lack of financial incentives for the health care providers, the adoption of patient portals has lagged behind other market segments.

Future

E-visits (remote use of medical services) may soon become one of the most commonly used options of patient portals. The most likely demographic for uptake of e-visits are patients who live in remote rural areas, far from clinical services. An Internet session would be much cheaper and more convenient than traveling a long distance, especially for simple questions or minor medical complaints.

Vendors

Some vendors, such as athenahealth, Epic Systems and Cerner offer patient portals as one module of a complete Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Other vendors, such as Allscripts and Medfusion, offer patient portals that can be integrated with any EHR.
Recent market surveys have highlighted best of breed, or applications that excel at one or two functions, are losing ground to portals provided by large vendors. While best of breed portals ar…