Portals/Patient Access to their Records
Is it time to hop on the bandwagon and implement a patient portal application where patients and their providers can interact and exchange medical history information? Well with Meaningful Use Stage 2, this will start becoming a reality. In fact, Stage 2 is requiring eligible providers to provide online access to more than 50% of their patients and to ensure that 5% are actually accessing their medical records online. While 5% sounds like a low percentage, this is just the first push to get healthcare providers to implement these changes.
Patient Portals offer a lot of services that keep patients and their providers connected. Some of the most popular services that Patient Portals offer are online scheduling, ability to view and keep track of your healthcare information, see your test results, ask your provider any medical questions or concerns you may have, and to request refills on medications. All of these services are responsibilities that the office staff are currently tasked to do daily, in addition to numerous other responsibilities. Therefore, Patient Portals are designed not only to help providers and patients, but also the front gatekeepers that speak directly to the patients.
Working in the healthcare marketplace for several years, we are sure you have seen resistance from providers to adapt to new technology. However, with the older generation of providers retiring and the younger generation replacing them, you will see more and more providers gaining trust and becoming more willing to use Patient Portals. In addition, with all the changes that Meaningful Use is bringing, healthcare professionals are being required to participate through the hospital or organization they work for.
With CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) announcing that Stage 2 has been extended through 2016, this will allow more healthcare organizations the ability to implement the requirements issued through Meaningful Use and also the ability to collect more Meaningful Use Incentives to offset the cost of implementing these requirements.
Implementing Patient Portals could bring greater efficiency in the long term, save money, and keep patients better connected with their healthcare providers. With so many great possibilities, Patient Portals is one more extension of what the future will be leading to in the Healthcare Industry.
