Empowering Patients - The Power of Patient Portals

I Need to Make an Appointment with my Doctor, and it is 11 pm!
A shooting migraine at 11 p.m. at night makes Miss P wonder if she can make an appointment to see her doctor in the morning. Miss H needs to request her medication refill, and her physician’s office is closed. Miss R finally has time to pay her medical bills, and her biller has closed for the day. While these problems could exist in a medical system, a solution that has emerged to solve the problems of Miss P, Miss H, and Miss R is a well-designed Patient Health Portal (PHR). A Patient Portal can optimize a practice’s operations, maximize revenue, and enhance the quality of patient care and satisfaction.
 
The birth of the PHR
In the past decades, patients were generally not incentivized to play an active role in their health management. Physicians kept paper charts and used them to maintain health information. However, with the advent of installed software to maintain charts, physicians' offices upgraded to use specialized software for practice management (appointments, billing, etc) and fax for prescriptions, labs, and other communications. With the increased use of cloud-based software for office applications (such as sales, invoicing, etc.), cloud-based Electronic Health Systems began to emerge to automate all the office applications and charting, prescriptions, and labs, propelling efficiencies and medical information communications to greater heights.  

Despite the growth in adoption of the EHR, Patient Engagement remained a lower priority. This began to change when products such as Charm PHR began to be adopted by patients who were familiar with systems such as cloud-based email, word-processing, accounting, or
other software. Patients started creating an account in the PHR to make an appointment and request medication refills.  
 
Today: A day in the life of a patient and her PHR
The PHR exists to serve the patient to transform the way patients request and experience healthcare. Today, a patient can pick up the phone and request an appointment with her doctor at any time, from anywhere, with online scheduling on a PHR. Once the appointment
is confirmed, the patient can be alerted by the PHR. Once the appointment is made, the physician might want to optimize their appointment time by requesting patients fill out a questionnaire with all the detailed information, such as current medications or systems, once again, through the PHR. Allowing the patient to input all this valuable information in her own spare time increases accuracy and saves some data entry, as this information is imported to the chart.  

During the appointment, the physician reviews all the information at hand, including the inputs from the PHR. The doctor charts the encounter and often, prescribes medications and labs. The patient does not have to write notes to remember all this information. The
doctor does not need to run to the printer to print patient education materials. The PHR comes to the rescue. The physician lets the patient know that the encounter summary, treatment plan, any prescriptions, lab orders, and educational material are all shared through the patient portal.  

The patient leaves the physician’s office knowing that all the information is one PHR login away. She checks her phone and looks at the encounter summary. Everything looks alright. She receives a text alert from the pharmacy about a new prescription. She looks through
her PHR and finds that another prescription needs a refill. She sends a refill request out to the doctor through the PHR. It is approved, and she can pick up the medication on her way home. The patient receives and starts her medication. Several days later, she opens her PHR and sends a message to her doctor: Thank you, I feel much better already!
 
The PHR roll-out recipe
1.Select a PHR that suits your practice needs. Select one with an intuitive user interface  and one that is customizable to the practice. Choose one with the features you need, such as appointments, messaging, and tight integration with the EHR.
2.Narrow down your selection to one with a user-friendly design. Patients are often in a hurry or may be sick. The PHR should be their friend and not pose obstacles in usability.
3.In today's digital age, patients expect convenience. A mobile-responsive patient portal allows patients to access their health information from smartphones and tablets, increasing accessibility and engagement.
4.Engage Your Staff: Ensure your clinical staff understands the benefits of the patient portal and how to use it effectively. Offer training sessions to empower them to guide patients through the system.
5.Promote Patient Adoption: Actively promote the patient portal to your patients. Explain the benefits, provide user guides, and offer support to encourage adoption.
6.Collect Patient Feedback: Continuously seek feedback from your patients to improve care delivery. Their input is invaluable for enhancing the patient experience.
7.Monitor and Evaluate: Regularly monitor the portal's usage and patient feedback. Use this data to make improvements and refine your patient engagement strategies.

The future
As patients become more engaged in the management of their own healthcare, the modern PHR will continue to play an increasing role in their lives. In the future, the PHR will connect with wearables and devices at the patient’s home. Data and insights will be automatically be
uploaded to the PHR / EHR and alert the physician or emergency services. The PHR will be used by patients to track their diet, exercise, medication regimens, and state of well-being, all shared with the physician to assist in decision-making.

Is it too late for Miss P to refill her medication? She can talk to her friendly chatbot assistant on the PHR to get that done. Her concerned assistant reminds her that it is time for her mammogram.  

"Oh! And Miss P, it is time to pay your bills!" says the friendly voice of the PHR.