patient portal policy and procedure

by Elva Marvin PhD 10 min read
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PATIENT PORTAL POLICY AND PROCEDURE As a service to our patients, Heartland Cardiology offers secure, electronic access to portions of their medical record. As a reminder, all patients must sign the Patient Portal Consent form and agree to the Terms and Conditions in order to use the patient portal.

Full Answer

What is the patient portal?

The patient portal is a secure, confidential, and convenient way to communicate with CPC using the latest encryption technology. Use Healow to access your medical information from the comfort and privacy of your own home or office, schedule appointments, ask questions and more.

What is the healow patient portal?

The patient portal is a secure, confidential, and convenient way to communicate with CPC using the latest encryption technology. Use Healow to access your medical information from the comfort and privacy of your own home or office, schedule appointments, ask questions and more. Established patients: download the Healow app now – it’s free!

How can I keep messages sent through the patient portal secure?

Note: Communication via the Patient Portal may be included in your permanent medical record. Keeping messages secure depends on two additional factors: (a) the secure message must reach the correct email address, and (b) the authorized individual must be able to get access to it. Only you can make sure these two factors are present.

What app do you use for patient portal?

Patient Portal Policy and Procedures We use Healow as our patient app and portal. The patient portal is a secure, confidential, and convenient way to communicate with CPC using the latest encryption technology.

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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. Discharge summaries.

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 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 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 benefits and challenges of implementing a patient portal?

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.

How do you optimize patient portals for patient engagement?

Make enrollment open to all patients. Have staff manage portal workflow and communication before engaging providers directly. Aim to establish efficient workflows and policies, and avoid burdening providers with troubleshooting during initial rollout. The whole staff should be involved in promoting the patient portal.

Which 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 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...•

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.

How common are patient portals?

Nearly 40 percent of individuals nationwide accessed a patient portal in 2020 – this represents a 13 percentage point increase since 2014. The proportion of individuals who were offered and accessed a patient portal did not increase between 2019 and 2020.

Does patient portal have an app?

Patient portal apps typically allow patients to share their health records with providers, enabling them to gain a longitudinal view of their patient's health history. Like Epic's MyChart, some apps even allow patients to provide temporary access to their medical records via a code.

What is a patient portal?

Patient portals are web- and mobile-based programs that allow patients and their proxies remotely to interact with healthcare systems and their care providers. 1–3 These portals commonly allow users to view selected information from the electronic health record (EHR), review test results, message providers, schedule appointments, and pay medical bills. 4 A report by the Institute of Medicine specifies online access to personal health records, such as patient portals, as a promising technology to support patient engagement. 5 Functionality delivered through patient portals has been shown to improve chronic disease management, increase adherence to preventive care such as immunizations and screening, improve patient satisfaction, and better outcomes for some patients with chronic disease. 6–14

What is a well designed patient portal?

Well-designed patient portals, when combined with policies that promote use, offer significant opportunity for patients to engage in their healthcare. Without proper management, portals can suffer from decreased use and poor support from providers. In this work, we discuss the patient portal policies that govern account registration and management, shared access, and test result reporting at VUMC. We anticipate that other organizations can implement concepts from our policies to support the meaningful use of patient portals.

What is proxy access?

Proxy access is defined as an access class in which one individual receives access to another individual’s protected health information, communication tools, and functions in MHAV. In all cases, the proxy had to meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the table, even if the patient did not. Individuals could serve as proxies for competent adult patients, patients who were children or adolescents, and adult patients who met legal criteria for lacking the capacity to make medical decisions. VUMC policy distinguished two general categories of proxies: delegates and surrogates. The policy defined delegates as “an adult individual invited by a MHAV account holder to have access to that account holder’s MHAV account,” and stipulated that the account holder be a competent adult. For example, a competent adult may invite her spouse, adult friend, and adult child aged 18 or older to have delegate access to her account.

What is patient portal?

The Patient Portal may include general information or education that should not be construed as specific medical advice or instruction. Nothing in the Patient Portal is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered complete or relied on to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. You should always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and you should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of general information or education you may find on the Patient Portal. When Unity Care NW posts information provided by a third party, Unity Care NW will make reasonable efforts to credit the source. Unity Care NW does not warrant, either expressly or by implication, the factual accuracy of the information posted, but believes all statements made to be reliable and accurate based upon representations made by the authors themselves. Unity Care NW accepts no fault or liability for any error or omission with respect to such statements.

Is Unity Care NW secure?

In our on-going commitment to improve services, Unity Care NW offers secure online access to some of your medical records and the ability to communicate with your provider and care team for patients 18 years and over or be the guarantor/guardian of a child between the ages of 0-12 years of age. Secure messaging can be a helpful tool, but has certain risks. By checking the box, you accept the risks and agree to follow the Terms of Use as described below.

What is the patient portal?

The Patient Portal may, from time to time, include information posted by Clermont Medical Center in the form of news, opinions, or general educational materials that should not be construed as specific medical advice or instruction from Clermont Medical Center. Information within the Patient Portal is not intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. The information posted by Clermont Medical Center on the Patient Portal should not be considered complete, nor should it be relied on to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. You should always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and you should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you may have read on the Patient Portal.

What is Clermont Medical Center's patient portal?

Clermont Medical Center’s Patient Portal offers its established patients secure electronic access to portions of their medical record. All patients must agree to the Terms and Conditions in order to use the patient portal.

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Background and Significance

  • Patient portals are web- and mobile-based programs that allow patients and their proxies remotely to interact with healthcare systems and their care providers.1–3 These portals commonly allow users to view selected information from the electronic health record (EHR), review test results, message providers, schedule appointments, and pay medical bil...
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Methods

  • Study site
    Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is a private, nonprofit, and academic healthcare center located in Middle Tennessee. VUMC includes the 758-bed Vanderbilt University Hospital (VUH) and the 267-bed Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (MCJCHV). VUH rece…
  • My Health at Vanderbilt
    My Health at Vanderbilt (MHAV) is an institutionally developed patient portal which launched in a limited fashion in 2003 before being more widely deployed throughout all clinical specialties starting in 2007 (Figure 1). The VUMC informatics, legal and operational teams internally establi…
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Results

  • Policy on patient access and registration
    During the period covered by this review, My Health at Vanderbilt was made available to all competent adults age 18 and older, regardless of whether they had an established relationship with a Vanderbilt site (ie, whether they had a medical record number). With permission from a pa…
  • Proxy and nonpatient access
    The access policy also allowed a number of proxy access classes to account for diverse ways that family members or other caregivers support individuals receiving health care. Proxy access is defined as an access class in which one individual receives access to another individual’s protec…
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Discussion

  • Patients are increasingly interested in accessing their personal health data through the patient portal.4,24,34 There remains a need to understand how portal policies can enable use and promote engagement.13 Previous studies have found evidence supporting patient portal use and improved chronic disease management, improved patient satisfaction, and improved outcomes…
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Conclusion

  • Well-designed patient portals, when combined with policies that promote use, offer significant opportunity for patients to engage in their healthcare. Without proper management, portals can suffer from decreased use and poor support from providers. In this work, we discuss the patient portal policies that govern account registration and management, shared access, and test resul…
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Contributorship Statement

  • BS, JW, and TR conceived the study idea and design. BS, JC, BC, GS, and TR retrieved and described relevant policy information. BS and JW conducted quantitative data analysis. All authors participated in writing and reviewed the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.
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