Did you know a patient who actively uses your patient portal is 67% more likely to show up for their appointments than a non-user? The same study also showed that portal users were less likely to need an emergency room visit than non-users.
Your patient portal can do more than just help you stay in touch with your patients. It can help you build stronger ongoing relationships, while helping you offer a stronger quality of overall care, with more patient engagement that leads to better patient outcomes.
Here’s how.
A patient portal is a secure online platform that enables patients to access their personal health information, communicate with their healthcare providers, and manage various aspects of their care. These portals are typically integrated with the electronic health record (EHR) systems used by healthcare organizations, ensuring that patients have up-to-date access to their medical records.
The most common and useful features in a patient portal include:
Appointment scheduling:
Patients can easily schedule, reschedule, or cancel their appointments through the portal, reducing the need for phone calls and improving patient access to care.
Access to medical records:
Patients can view their medical history, including lab results, visit summaries, and prescriptions. Intake forms and questionnaires can be used as the basis for your visit notes. View their lab results, handouts, and other documents that you share with them.
Secure messaging:
This feature enables patients to send and receive messages from their care providers in a secure environment, facilitating ongoing communication and improving patient care.
Prescription refills:
Patients can request prescription refills directly through the portal, streamlining the process and reducing administrative burdens on the practice.
When a patient logs into the portal, they are typically greeted by a user-friendly dashboard that provides an overview of their medical information, upcoming appointments, and any new messages from their healthcare provider.
The process begins with portal access. Patients use their unique login credentials to enter the portal, where they can view their health data, including medical records and personal health information. This data is securely stored within the portal and is synchronized with the clinic’s EHR system to ensure that all information is up-to-date and accurate.
Once inside the portal, patients can:
From a technical standpoint, patient portals rely on health information technology (HIT) systems that integrate with the clinic’s existing EHR software. This integration allows for real-time data synchronization, ensuring that both patients and healthcare providers have access to the most current information. It needs to be designed with robust security measures to protect patient data and comply with regulations like HIPAA.
Patient portals help reduce administrative burdens by automating processes like appointment scheduling and prescription refills. This not only frees up staff time but also improves the accuracy of patient information, as patients can update their records directly through the portal.
Specific use cases where patient portals have successfully improved clinic operations include:
The benefits of patient portals extend beyond individual practices. By improving patient engagement and reducing administrative tasks, patient portals contribute to the overall efficiency of the healthcare industry.
Let us show what a difference-maker the right type of patient portal can be.
“I knew I needed an EHR to run my practice and spent a lot of time researching the different options. It was important to me to have a patient portal since I am serving my patients remotely.” - Dr. Shauna Guthrie, MD, MPH, FAAFP.
You can learn more about Cerbo’s patient portal by clicking here. Or, you can view our demo of the patient portal by clicking here.
