3 benefits of patient portal use

Some physicians view patient portals as nothing more than an appendage of Meaningful Use regulations, and treat them as an obligation rather than opportunity. Such a mindset is ultimately misguided – the patient portal actually has great potential to help practices both clinically and financially. Here are three of the latent benefits of properly leveraging this tool:

1. Driving engagement
"Portal adoption is the first step in the process of end-to-end patient engagement," Dr. Todd Rosenhaus, chief medical officer of Watertown, Massachuetts-based athenahealth told Becker's Hospital Review. "Patient engagement is essential to enabling patients to become participants in their own care."

He would go to on to explain how important it is that patients take an active role in their own treatment. Between visits, having the capacity to connect allows doctors to not only better understand the person who they are treating, but also makes it possible to have a real relationship.

2. Increasing retention
The more engaged patients are with their doctor, the more likely they to want to come back to that particular person. Using a patient portal lets the people being treated get information that they've requested on their own terms, according to Rosenhaus. Regular, meaningful touchpoints are vital parts of a long-term relationship that benefits both sides. That increased retention can be a big financial benefit for a provider, and allow it to continue delivering quality care.

3. Improving patient outcomes
Rosenhaus also believes that healthcare measures that end at point-of-care are no longer sufficient. Rather, there needs to be regular communication between all of the invested parties, including when there are results to share and when follow-ups need to be scheduled. Via patient portals, people can gain a greater self-sufficiency over the own courses of treatment. This allows them to better assist in the process, and takes some of the burden off of the provider.

In addition, communication breakdowns can have negative effects on care outcomes. If patients forget their dosages, or have a question regarding a potential activity, it's key for them to reach out and connect with their doctors. If there is already a built-in system, and an established relationship, that connection is significantly easier to forge. This takes a lot of the pressure off of those brief windows where doctor and patient are in the same room.

"Providers and patients are essentially trying to squeeze a lifetime of being human into a seven-minute visit. It's emotionally impossible to connect. Engagement between visits is the key helping the doctor understand the patient and to building a real relationship with the patient. The portal allows for that in an easy way," concluded Rosenhaus.

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