History of Patient Portals While internet portals—and increasingly apps—have been around for a while and many industries have adopted them successfully to allow consumers to manage sensitive personal data like banking information, the healthcare industry was slow to adopt them broadly.
Full Answer
What is 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; Medications; Immunizations; Allergies; Lab results
What is the history of patient portals?
The patient portal, MyChart, distinct from Epic MyChart, was originated by Sunnybrook in 2005. With an early launch in 2006, it became extensively available in 2007, and then it expanded to 10 other organizations. Consequently, with patient portals, personal health record systems are now commonly available to authorized users.
What is the secure patient portal (spp)?
The Secure Patient Portal is a secure system designed to help you manage your individual or family health care online. Using these online systems, you can: TRICARE is in the process of switching from our current patient portal, TOL Patient Portal, to MHS GENESIS.
Do patient portals facilitate patient discovery of errors in electronic health records?
Several studies reported that patient portals facilitate patient discovery of errors in EMRs [ 24, 26, 30, 54 - 56 ]. Discussion in the literature of how patients could notify health care providers of such errors is lacking. Further research is needed to establish how patient-discovered errors are reported and to identify optimal reporting methods.
When did patient portals begin?
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the earliest adopters of patient portals began offering electronic tools for patient-centered communication, often “tethered” to their integrated electronic health record system.
When did open notes start?
2010It all started in 2010 when Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Geisinger Health System and Harborview Medical Center, a safety net hospital in Seattle affiliated with the University of Washington Medical School, participated in a demonstration study in which patients were given access to their doctors' notes.
What is the purpose of patient portals?
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.
Is patient portal secure?
Patient portals have privacy and security safeguards in place to protect your health information. To make sure that your private health information is safe from unauthorized access, patient portals are hosted on a secure connection and accessed via an encrypted, password-protected logon.
What is the Open Notes rule?
The Cures Act prohibition against information blocking, often referred to as an “open notes” provision, provides patients with transparency in the outcomes of their healthcare via convenient access to information in their EHR, which can positively or negatively impact the patient-doctor relationship.
Can patients read their own medical notes?
New Law Mandates Access to Writings, Test Results Starting November 2, all patients in the United States will have immediate access to clinical notes and thus will be able to read their doctors' writings, as well as test results and reports from pathology and imaging.
What are the five main features of the new healthcare portal?
Five key features to look for in an EHR patient portalEasy to follow user interface. ... Messaging and communication. ... Registration. ... Scheduling. ... Enhanced security.
What are the pros and cons of 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.
Do patient portals improve healthcare?
Background. 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.
Can patient portals be hacked?
Unfortunately, what makes your patient portal valuable for patients is exactly what makes it attractive to cybercriminals. It's a one-stop shop for entire health records, and identity thieves can make a fast buck from stealing this data and selling it on.
What are the challenges of patient portals?
Patient portals are secure websites that give people access to their personal health information from anywhere, at any time....Table of ContentsGetting Patients to Opt-In.Security Concerns.User Confusion.Alienation and Health Disparities.Extra Work for the Provider.Conclusion.
Are patient portals easy to use?
Patient portals are secure, personal Internet connections to a health care practice. Portals are hailed as an easy and efficient way for patients and providers to exchange health information.
When was the Cures Act passed?
December 13, 2016The 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act), signed into law on December 13, 2016, is designed to help accelerate medical product development and bring new innovations and advances to patients who need them faster and more efficiently.
What are OpenNotes in music?
0:544:47Open Notes On The Guitar | Practical Beginner Lesson - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo if you look at your note circle. And you say e to f. That's a semitone. Away so it's one fret. SoMoreSo if you look at your note circle. And you say e to f. That's a semitone. Away so it's one fret. So if that's an e then this is the note f.
What is OpenNotes healthcare?
OpenNotes organization Notes are written by the treating medical provider, but could also be drafted by a medical scribe or medical student and later signed by a board-certified physician. An “open note” is when doctors, nurses other medical professionals share clinical visit notes with patients.
Who is most likely to seek health information from social network sites?
A person who desires immediate access to information and is internet savvy. Who is most likely to seek health information from social networks sites? healthcare providers direct patients to high-quality information on the web.
What is a patient portal?
Patient portals, according to HealthIT.gov, are secure websites (and apps) that give patients access to personal health information over an internet connection. The most common things patients can view on a portal include:
What are the benefits of patient portals?
Increasingly, portals offer benefits like patient-provider messaging, online bill pay, scheduling capabilities, and more. For patients, they offer real-time access to information that was once exclusively held within your doctor’s office on paper charts (even getting those records to transfer to another provider for continuity of care was difficult and cumbersome). For providers, they offer a chance to share information with patients—such as education, upcoming immunization reminders, and more—without the need for an in-person appointment.
How much did the 2009 HIPAA law set aside?
A 2009 law (ARRA) finally set aside $19 billion to improve health information technology, including electronic medical records and patient portals. The law tied financial incentives ...
How do I use a Patient Portal?from medlineplus.gov
If your provider offers a patient portal, you will need a computer and internet connection to use it. Follow the instructions to register for an account. Once you are in your patient portal, you can click the links to perform basic tasks. You can also communicate with your provider's office in the message center.
What are the benefits of a patient portal?from medlineplus.gov
Expand Section. With a patient portal: You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day . You do not need to wait for office hours or returned phone calls to have basic issues resolved. You can access all of your personal health information from all ...
What is MHS Genesis?from tricare.mil
MHS GENESIS is the new secure patient portal for TRICARE. It will eventually deploy to all military medical and dental facilities worldwide and replace the TOL Patient Portal.
What is a TOL portal?from tricare.mil
The TOL Patient Portal (also referred to as "TRICARE Online" or "TOL") is the current secure patient portal that gives registered users access to online health care information and services at military hospitals and clinics.
How to pay South Shore Orthopedics bill?from southshoreorthopedics.com
Click on the link below to access our payment portal. In order to pay your bill online, you will need an invoice from South Shore Orthopedics that was produced after April 14, 2017. On these new invoices, you will find a Form ID Number that is needed in order to verify your identity and match you to your record.
Can you access all of your health information?from medlineplus.gov
You can access all of your personal health information from all of your providers in one place. If you have a team of providers, or see specialists regularly, they can all post results and reminders in a portal. Providers can see what other treatments and advice you are getting. This can lead to better care and better management of your medicines.
Is patient portal urgent?from medlineplus.gov
Patient portals are not for urgent issues. If your need is time-sensitive, you should still call your provider's office.
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 vendors offer patient portals?
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.
How much money did the HITECH Act of 2009 give to medical records?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), in particular the HITECH Act within ARRA, sets aside approximately $19 billion for health information technology. This funding will potentially offset the costs of electronic medical record systems for practicing physicians. Because the conversion to electronic medical records is typically complex, systems often transition to patient portals first and then follow with a complete implementation of electronic medical records.
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.
What is a secure patient portal?
The Secure Patient Portal is a secure system designed to help you manage your individual or family health care online. Using these online systems, you can:
What is a TOL portal?
The TOL Patient Portal (also referred to as "TRICARE Online" or "TOL") is the current secure patient portal that gives registered users access to online health care information and services at military hospitals and clinics.
What is MHS Genesis?
MHS GENESIS is the new secure patient portal for TRICARE. It will eventually deploy to all military medical and dental facilities worldwide and replace the TOL Patient Portal.
Can you see your health records in MHS?
As soon as your record is created, you’ll be able to see your health data in MHS GENESIS.
What is a patient portal?
Patient portals are web-based applications that enable patients to interact with their health information, healthcare systems, and healthcare providers [1–3]. Since the late 1990s, hundreds of institutions have implemented patient portals [4–18], with increasing adoption driven by the Affordable Care Act and Meaningful Use criteria in the United States (US) [19] and The Power of Information strategy initiated by the National Health Services (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK) [20–22]. Use of patient portals has been shown to increase satisfaction with care, enhance communication between patients and providers, expand access to health information, and improve clinical outcomes for patients with selected diseases [23–30]. Studies of portal interventions report improved glycemic control in diabetes, reduced symptoms in patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, and improved adherence to medications [31–38].
Where are patient portals used?
Patient portals have been implemented in diverse settings including large academic medical centers [34, 38–43], community practices [44], adult and pediatric primary care [45, 46], and specialty care [35, 36]. Most studies of patient portals, however, have been conducted in primary care or medical subspecialty care of chronic diseases [38, 46–49]. Two recent systematic reviews of over 100 studies of the effectiveness of patient portals [6, 10] revealed only three studies exploring portal use outside of primary care or medical specialties [50–52]. As portal adoption increases, little is known whether and how specialties outside of medicine will use this technology.
What is a VUMC portal?
VUMC launched a patient portal called My Health at Vanderbilt (MHAV) in 2005 and incrementally implemented the portal throughout the clinical enterprise. A physician champion introduced MHAV to providers, and technical support staff was available to patients, physicians, and staff as the portal was introduced in individual clinical units. MHAV was promoted to patients through flyers posted in outpatient clinics. This process was repeated, beginning in adult primary care, and then extending to adult and pediatric specialties. Specific policies and procedures that were developed to enhance patient and provider adoption have been published elsewhere [57]. MHAV patient portal is available to all patients who receive medical care at VUMC. Accounts for pediatric patients and their parents or guardians were implemented in 2007. MHAV provides a suite of common patient portal functions including access to selected portions of the electronic medical record, appointment scheduling, secure messaging with healthcare providers, account and bill management, and delivery of personalized health information [57,58]; all of these functions were fully operational by 2008. MHAV currently has over 293,000 registered users, including more than 19,000 pediatric accounts, with over 255,000 logins per month.
How many secure threads were there in the VUMC study?
After exclusions, the analysis included a total of 948,428 secure message threads from 82,159 unique MHAV users to 1,924 different VUMC provider recipients and 2,422,114 outpatient clinic encounters in 487 VUMC clinics. The numbers of users registered for MHAV were 68,850 in 2008, 99,434 in 2009, and 127,160 in 2010.
What is secure messaging?
Secure messaging is a function that can be attributed to a particular clinical specialty, namely, the specialty of the provider exchanging messages with a patient. The amount of messaging done by different clinical specialties is important because prior research has shown that clinical care is delivered through portal message exchanges [36, 55]. For example, patients may report new problems, and secure messages may facilitate further evaluation and treatment [56]. Thus, messaging within a patient portal is more than a new communication modality to support administrative tasks. Instead, portal messaging can be considered an evolving form of outpatient interaction through which healthcare is delivered. A recent systematic review demonstrated that online communication was time-saving and more efficient in managing patient care, facilitated uptake of preventive care services, and showed a small improvement in adherence with medication and clinic attendance [6]. Clinical specialties that adopt secure messaging may, in fact, increase the amount of care they provide. Policies and procedures for use of secure messaging are presented in Meaningful Use criteria in the US and NHS criteria for patient access to electronic records in the UK [19–21]. As more countries adopt electronic means of delivering health care directly to patients, secure messaging may emerge as a common form of outpatient care delivery.
What is a Vanderbilt cohort study?
This retrospective cohort study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center examined use of patient-initiated secure messages and clinic visits in the three years following full deployment of a patient portal across adult and pediatric specialties. We measured the proportion of outpatient interactions (i.e., messages plus clinic visits) conducted through secure messaging by specialty over time. Generalized estimating equations measured the likelihood of message-based versus clinic outpatient interaction across clinical specialties.
Which specialty has the highest odds of using messaging versus clinic visits?
Initially, anesthesiology had the highest odds of using messaging versus clinic visits for outpatient interaction as compared to medicine (Odds Ratio (OR): 0.35, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.28–0.43), while ophthalmology had the lowest (OR: 0.07, 95% CI: 0.06–0.08) (► Table 2). The specialties with largest monthly increase in the odds of using messaging versus clinic visits for outpatient interaction relative to medicine were obstetrics/gynecology and dermatology (OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.09–1.10). Surgery (OR 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99–0.99) and ophthalmology (OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.97–0.98) showed a decrease in the odds of using messaging relative to medicine, but still had an absolute increase the proportion of outpatient interaction done through messaging.
Why are patient portals important?from electronichealthreporter.com
Patient portals provide an opportunity for healthcare providers to offer patients that individual experience and to support their efforts at managing their own care, enabled by automation and empowered by the availability of data. If providers can secure PHI and provide the confidence consumers and providers need, patient portals will become a useful tool for healthcare transformation.
How do I use a Patient Portal?from medlineplus.gov
If your provider offers a patient portal, you will need a computer and internet connection to use it. Follow the instructions to register for an account. Once you are in your patient portal, you can click the links to perform basic tasks. You can also communicate with your provider's office in the message center.
How can a company be a successful player in the healthcare arena?from electronichealthreporter.com
A recent blog by Dan Munro claims that, “To be a successful player in the healthcare arena, a company needs to be in the ‘behavioral change’ business. Boosting adherence, bending the cost curve and shifting from treatment to prevention will require dramatic shifts in patient behavior. Customizing the individual experience is key to improved outcomes.”
How to ensure your data is secure?from electronichealthreporter.com
Implement user authentication to ensure your data is truly secure – For example, in some patient portals, after displaying one patient’s record, a different patient’s record could be displayed simply by editing the URL in the browser.
What is the importance of a comprehensive security program?from electronichealthreporter.com
Beyond encryption, organizations need to have a comprehensive security program that, in addition to addressing the required elements in HIPAA and meaningful use, includes a solid understanding of the organization’s data security risks and contingency plans in case of a breach.
What should be included in portals?from electronichealthreporter.com
Enable portals that have integrated security features – This should include user authentication, role-based authorization and single sign-on capabilities.
Do older adults use patient portals?from pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Most of the older adults are interested in using a patient portal regardless of health literacy level, previous patient portal adoption , or experience navigating health information on the Web. Research targeting informal caregivers of older adults who are unable or unwilling to engage with informati ….
Why are patient portals important?
While the evidence is currently immature, patient portals have demonstrated benefit by enabling the discovery of medical errors, improving adherence to medications, and providing patient-provider communication, etc. High-quality studies are needed to fully understand, improve, and evaluate their impact.
How does a patient portal improve patient engagement?
Patient portals may enhance patient engagement by enabling patients to access their electronic medical records (EMRs) and facilitating secure patient-provider communication.
What are the inputs and outputs of a patient portal?
The inputs are the material (eg, hardware and software) and nonmaterial (eg, leadership) components that facilitate or impair the establishment or use of the portal. Processes include the interactions of the users with the portal. Outputs comprise the results of the implementation or the use of the portal. Through the analysis, we identified 14 themes within these three categories, shown in Textbox 1.
How does patient involvement improve quality of care?
Promoting patient involvement in health care delivery may lead to improved quality and safety of care [14,15] by enabling patients to spot and report errors in EMRs, for example [6]. Some patients recognize the role of patient portals in their health care, reporting satisfaction with the ability to communicate with their health care teams and perform tasks such as requesting prescription refills conveniently [3,16]. Portal use may reduce in-person visits, visits to emergency departments, and patient-provider telephone conversations [3,8-10,12,16]. Despite the potential of portals, already used in the ambulatory setting for some time, implementation in the inpatient setting has only recently gathered momentum [17-19]. The inpatient setting presents additional challenges for implementing patient portals [18,20]. Clinical conditions leading to hospitalization are often acute and the amount of medical information generated during this time can be extensive, which may overwhelm patients [20] and challenge information technology to rapidly display this information.
What are barriers in portals?
Barriers: factors that hinder widespread adoption or portal use
What is portal design?
Portal design: umbrella term for all design-related aspects of the portal including portal interface, content, features, and functions
What databases are used to search for articles published between 2005 and 2017?
The PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase databases were searched for articles published between 2005 and 2017 using keywords related to patient engagement, electronic health records, patient portals, and their associated subject headings in each database: the full search terms for each database are provided in Multimedia Appendix 1.
When did Patient Portals Start?
Patient portals started after the introduction of Electronic Health Records. The first EHRs, which would eventually come packed up with patient portals, started developing in the 1960s.
When did EHRs start using patient portals?
In the late 1990s, patient portals came out of EHRs, utilizing EHR -data to help patients know about their health. EHRs initially adopted these patient portals to offer electronic tools to patients to make patient-centered communication easier.
What are Some Basic Patient Portal Features?
Patient portals are designed to help patients securely view their health data, consult a healthcare provider, schedule their appointments, and do more to be active participants in their health care process.
Why is Patient Portal Important?
One of the remarkable benefits of a patient portal is patient engagement, which allows patients to actively engage in their healthcare.
How is Patient Portal Implementation Done?
The implementation of patient portals involves different steps to be followed- from research to final implementation and execution of them as a system. Here are six steps to implement a patient portal:
What are Patient Portal Regulations?
Organizations must be aware of patient portals regulations before they introduce one within their system.
What are the Pros and Cons of Patient Portals in Healthcare?
Patient portals pose many challenges and provide benefits for the enhancement of quality care. Effectively using a patient portal is not easy because the portals come with many pros and cons in the healthcare industry.
What happens when registration is completed prior to an appointment?
When registration is completed prior to an appointment, patients spend less time in the waiting room and more time engaged in their care.
What are the Academy materials for EHR?
Is your EHR vendor using Academy materials? Several EHR companies have signed licensing agreements with the Academy, allowing them to incorporate Academy patient education materials into their EHRs. These materials include more than 90 downloadable handouts about common eye-related issues, 3-D animations that illustrate standard procedures and treatment options, and educational videos that detail common ophthalmic conditions. “We integrated this content with our EHR system so when a patient receives their clinical summary, they also receive educational information based on their diagnosis. We can also add information such as supplemental brochures, customize information, or include links that redirect patients to the AAO website or our contact lens distributor for more information,” said Ms. Mullaney. For more information, including a list of participating EHR vendors, go to: http://store.aao.org/ehr-integration-information.html.
What are the advantages of EHR?
Are patient education materials available through your EHR system? “One advantage of our EHR system is the ability to right click and send anything we have in writing through the portal to our patients. Every relevant education piece is not only saved to a patient’s chart but is also sent to the portal. Before our patients leave the office after an appointment, we tell them that we will be sending this information to their portal account. When they get home, they can read it at their leisure and share it with their family or friends. And included on every brochure at our office is a notice that says that the brochure is also available through the patient portal,” said Ms. Mullaney.
Can patients access treatment plans online?
And now, with a portal, patients can access these materials online.
Can you screen registration information for bad data?
Screen registration information for bad data. “Our patients can complete their registration and update their information online, but we review it before it is accepted into our EHR—it is not a live interaction where patients can update the system,” said Ms. Woodke. “We want to make sure that the data is valid before accepting it. If something is not entered or updated correctly in registration, it could hold up our claims or cause other problems that can affect the patient and the practice.”
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…