Marisa TorrierI

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Marisa TorrierI Associate Editor, Physicians
Practice
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WHAT IS A PATIENT PORTAL?
Q
What is a patient portal?
A
A patient portal is a Web-based application that
allows two-way communication between healthcare
providers and their patients.
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WHY PATIENT PORTALS?
WHY PATIENT PORTALS?
Five Reasons to
Hop the Portal Bandwagon NOW

• Reduce phone traffic handled by staff
• Patients love to communicate online
• HIPAA compliance
• Helps ensure more timely bill pay
• Helps you meet meaningful use

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MEANINGFUL USE
WHY PATIENT PORTALS?
Stage 1 Core Requirements

1. Provide a clinical summary of each visit to at
   least 50 percent of your patients within three
   business days.
2. Upon request, provide 50 percent of patients with
   electronic copies of their health information
   (including lab results, medication lists,
   allergies) within three business days.

Stage 2 Proposed Requirement
Offer patients the ability to view online,
download, and transmit health information within
four business days of the information being
available to the EP.
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PORTALS ARE GAINING POPULARITY
29 of practices currently usinga portal
Source 2012 Physicians Practice Technology
Survey of more than 1,300 respondents
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What makes a
good portal?
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CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PORTAL
A good portal is

• Easy to use for providers, staff, and patients
• Designed to improve efficiency in your practices
  day-to-day functions
• Secure, robust, and functional

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HOW ELECTRONIC MESSAGING WORKS

• This is not a new version of e-mail
• Providers and staff leave messages for patients
  in their portal account, and vice versa
• The patient uses a secure password and log-in to
  see his messages

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INSIDE THE PORTAL
What Patients Can Do in the Portal

1. See test results
2. Pay bills
3. Make appointments
4. Manage prescriptions
5. Gain information about chronic diseases

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PERSONA 1
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

• Cost varies

• Monthly fee per provider, usually as anadd-on to
  your monthly EHR costs.
• Sometimes there is a start-up fee (which may be
  waived).
• Standalone product purchase 1,500 to 3,000 up
  front may or may not include a monthly service
  or licensing fee.

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PICKING A PORTAL

• Questions to Ask/Criteria to Consider

• Will the portal interface to your current EHR?
• Is it sold separately as a feature or only with
  the EHR system?
• Does the portal allow you to provide the patient
  with ready access to the criteria for CMS
  Meaningful Use EHR incentives?
• Is the portal HIPAA-compliant?

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PICKING A PORTAL

• Questions to Ask/Criteria to Consider

• What features does the patient portal have that
  willengage patients?
• What will the patient experience be like?
• How user friendly is it for providers and staff?
• How customizable is it?

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PICKING A PORTAL

• Questions to Ask/Criteria to Consider

• What needs to be done by your practice?
• Is there a backup plan?
• Does the vendor offer safety and uptime
  guarantees?
• Are you able to see actual chart information?
• What is the process for enabling patient access
  to the portal?

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GETTING PATIENTS TO THE PORTAL

• Worried your patients wont enroll in the portal?

Try these tips

• Dont just ask for patients/ e-mail addresses.
  Make sure they know why you want them.
• Talk about the portals benefits.
• Offer to help show portal, in person, to older
  patients, or those who are technologically
  challenged.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Marisa Torrieri Associate Editor Physicians
Practice Marisa.Torrieri_at_ubm.com 203.523.7058.