Author Topic: Does Patients use Patient Portal?  (Read 6722 times)

Ango_mark03

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Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« on: February 11, 2014, 10:27:15 AM »
Nowadays are physicians facing difficulties in getting their patients to use patient portal?

Michele

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2014, 11:48:40 AM »
I don't have any personal experience in this but........ (it's always the buts that get us in trouble :) )

My opinion is that most people are looking for things like this.  I know I would love to be able to look on a website to verify my appointment.  I always lose my appt cards!  Also, I would prefer to go online and fill out info at home than "arrive 15 minutes early to complete paperwork".  The only people that may have a harder time are older patients, and most older patients have a younger family member that is responsible for this stuff anyway.  I cared for my great aunt for 20 years (She passed away a little over a year ago) and I would have loved to have been able to do that stuff before I got her to the appointment.  I can type a whole lot faster than I can hand print things!
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DMK

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2014, 02:39:36 PM »
This is probably opening an unintended can of worms but.....(and it IS the buts that get us in trouble)

While I understand the concept of a patient portal, the ONLY thing I think they should be for IS intake forms and general information.  MAYBE for negative test results.  I just see so many security risks in the concept that I don't like the concept.  But I'm old fashioned that way.

I actually polled several of our young, tech savvy patients about patient portals and physician web sites.  My main question was "Would you CHOOSE your physician (Chiro, Gyno, Surgeon,Dentis etc) based solely on their web site?"  The answer was a resounding NO.  It was still most important to ask their friends and family who they liked and were happy with.

They did read the testimonials (but understood that web site builders often "create" testimonials), and they liked the photos of the facility and the doctor and staff, and the overall "mission statement" (I hate that term), but ultimately it's the word of mouth that was more important.

We've been really wrestling with doing a web site (they're not free you know!) but the requirement of EHR kind of forces the issue, doesn't it?  Ultimately, a beautiful site/portal, and pretty pictures does NOT mean that the doctor is any good, or good for you.  A handsome doctor is no better at treating you for your health problems than a less attractive one.  It may make you feel better if the doctor is your same ethnicity (but that shouldn't even BE an issue) or if they have a pretty office but very often good doctors keep their overhead low so they can focus on being a good doctor, not making a ton of money.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I'll be really interested to hear how others feel!

PMRNC

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2014, 04:47:02 PM »
Quote
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I'll be really interested to hear how others feel!

AMEN.. couldn't have said it better. I have an OPT out with my physicians. They may not store any PHI for purposes OTHER than sending claims to my insurance carrier. I always remember the fact that the CIA and FBI websites are hacked all the time.. why on EARTH would I trust my personal health information on any website.. ??
It is amazing to me how all this talk about EHR has not sparked physicians at all to inform patients of their RIGHT to opt out.
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DMK

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2014, 07:06:16 PM »

It is amazing to me how all this talk about EHR has not sparked physicians at all to inform patients of their RIGHT to opt out.

I'll guarantee it's because they don't know that it's an option!  Most of them don't even understand the intention of the portal or EHR in general.

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2014, 07:06:16 PM »

PMRNC

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2014, 07:08:54 PM »
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I'll guarantee it's because they don't know that it's an option!  Most of them don't even understand the intention of the portal or EHR in general.

Sad thing is that according to my attorney .. NOT knowing that is going to land a lot of practices in court.
Linda Walker
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Merry

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2014, 07:15:42 PM »
from a different perspective. Perhaps it is because I am older..My info has been out there for years. I love the EPIC system and getting all of my info immediately. I get my labs before the dr sees them and now this is a new law that all patients can do this. I no longer have to get copies of things when I go to another physician as most have access to the system. And if they don't, I can copy the info without going to someone and asking and waiting for them to send it to me..and charging me.
Just thought I would throw that out from another side.

DMK

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2014, 07:29:57 PM »
And I really appreciate hearing the positives!  Some of the things the portals are supposed to do are great.  Unfortunately there are so many things that can go wrong, and so many people (particularly older patients who could get the most benefit, but won't) are just not tech savvy.

PMRNC

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2014, 08:18:52 PM »
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from a different perspective. Perhaps it is because I am older..My info has been out there for years.

here's the problem...that is the problem.. too many patients think they have to adhere to this.. patients have lost control over their information because physicians have falsely misled them.    YES I said falsely because I believe physicians and/or their billers/office managers need know the laws!! patient's have a right NOT to have their info out there.

I've said it before, I'll say it again... delay the EMR.. it's going to be delayed.. the govt is not in any position to guarantee the safety and security of American's and their health records. Let's not make it easy for them.. go look at the number of times the healthcare.gov website was hacked.. look at CIA, FBI and CMS website hacks..    do you really want your info out there? do you really want to tell patients they have no choice?
Linda Walker
Practice Managers Resource & Networking Community
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www.billerswebsite.com

Michele

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2014, 12:53:15 PM »
This is probably opening an unintended can of worms but.....(and it IS the buts that get us in trouble)

While I understand the concept of a patient portal, the ONLY thing I think they should be for IS intake forms and general information.  MAYBE for negative test results.  I just see so many security risks in the concept that I don't like the concept.  But I'm old fashioned that way.

You made some good points.  I should have been more clear.  I like the ability of printing out the sheets to be able to complete them prior to the appt.  Not actually filling them out online.  When I was thinking patient portal I wasn't thinking EHR (Duh!).  I have mixed feelings about the EHR.  I agree with Linda about the protection aspect.  They can't guarantee PHI will be protected.  I actually wrote an article about the problems of identity theft in relation to EHR and it's scary.

I actually polled several of our young, tech savvy patients about patient portals and physician web sites.  My main question was "Would you CHOOSE your physician (Chiro, Gyno, Surgeon,Dentis etc) based solely on their web site?"  The answer was a resounding NO.  It was still most important to ask their friends and family who they liked and were happy with.

They did read the testimonials (but understood that web site builders often "create" testimonials), and they liked the photos of the facility and the doctor and staff, and the overall "mission statement" (I hate that term), but ultimately it's the word of mouth that was more important.

I would never choose a provider based on a website. 

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2014, 12:53:15 PM »

shanbull

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2014, 03:05:12 PM »
I would like to make a case for a fancy website, if I may. Unique practices offering hard-to-find services (like expensive laser machines and homeopathic medicine alongside traditional western medicine) tend to get a lot more patients who find them via website than your average medical practice. We're spending top dollar to develop our new website with HTML5 coding, hiring a photographer to take professional pictures, and really spending the time on each step to consult with our web designer and marketing team because we know some of our services will benefit from better exposure than they have now on our current website that has not been updated since 2007. We are expanding to have a social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, etc. etc. and for some reason I am the only person here with any experience in web design or social media, so guess who gets to run the whole operation and add content? Yours truly :o  We will also be producing videos and blog posts from our doctors in highly specialized fields. This entire week alone I have only been working on color palette ideas for the site.

We're not doing this because we think it's going to help. We know it's going to help to have an updated branding scheme and web search optimization, and we're putting in all this effort now to get the newest and shiniest so the website will not be outdated for another 10 years. We have also added 4 new locations to our original site this year alone, and doubled the amount of providers and specialties under our roof. Many of these new locations were already operating under a different practice, and we need to make sure we have a unified umbrella that patients understand. If you are able to make the commitment to update content regularly and you need to convey a lot of diverse information for many different types of patients, there is a place for a very well-designed website with the bells and whistles. It's first or most important part of advertising and patient recruitment, nor will a website alone do the work that our doctors have over the past 10 years building up this clinic. But there is a place for it.

Another issue to think about; our clinic owner originally paid some freelance guy in India a fraction of what web designers here charge, and the monstrosity that resulted from this shows that you get what you pay for. We have had to completely scrub that design because it has so many functional problems that it was unusable for our purposes. Lesson learned. Do not go for the cheapest option. It doesn't mean you HAVE to shell out $3,000 for a nice website either. Just make sure you are getting exactly what you need from the get-go, and if you're not familiar with website design, make sure you bring along someone who does know what is going on to any consultation. Otherwise, you might be paying a lot of money for garbage.

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Re: Does Patients use Patient Portal?
« Reply #10 on: February 14, 2014, 03:05:12 PM »