Working towards Meaningful Use compliance of health information technology, health care providers should be making an effort to securely share health information with their patients. While some PACS and EHR products may provide the necessary patient portal access radiologists are looking for, not all do.
The Patient Portal is a secure website that gives patients the convenience of 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere that is connected to the Internet. With username and password credentials, privately stored health data can be protected from unauthorized individuals who look to steal sensitive information from medical practices. When providers wish to engage in non-urgent communications with their clients, a portal can provide an avenue to transmit information without the need for a phone call or in-person visit.
How it helps the practice
There are many ways that practices can benefit from using online portals for their patients. Typically time-consuming tasks such as medical appointment scheduling and billing services can be handled over the Internet. Doing so can improve the administrative and clerical workflow of the office, decreasing the need for paperwork and other clinical-related costs.
Additionally, an online tool like the patient portal helps cut down on call volume and workload in the practice. Physicians and their staff spend less time filling out paperwork, preparing mailings and calling laboratories to request results for patients. As a result, the amount of additional work can be significantly reduced. Patient engagement also improves, as portals empower patients to track their own medical data, schedule appointments and order refills of their prescription medication.
Finally, medical imaging facilities that are looking to participate in successful health information exchange benefit from the secure, connected network patient portals provide. Also, patient portals can be used to mine data for analytical studies on public health, which can help improve patient care and provide better outcomes.
Registration challenge
The biggest obstacle practices would need to overcome is the process of getting patients to sign up for portals. To facilitate the registration steps, radiologists should ensure that their portals are streamlined for ease of use.
In order to avoid this complication, physicians and their staff should sit down with patients before they leave the practice and walk them through registration. While it may feel tedious, it can help them become more comfortable signing in and using the portal for its many advantages.
Ronny Bachrach
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