Patient Portal As A Tool For Enhancing Patient Experience And Improving Quality Of Care

The paper will begin with a Review of the Research. This section will summarize all the information gathered for this paper. Here the background will be given and the foundation laid for the rest of the report. Next will be the Application of the Research. This is

Modern communications capabilities open up a world of possibilities for all types of medical practices to develop deeper connections with their patients and to manage health care remotely. The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives patients the right to obtain copies of their medical records, treatments and protected health information or PHI. These requirements go further if medical providers want to receive reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid -- patients must be able to access their records online, download copies and transmit the information to third-party providers. Most medical practices are finding it necessary to develop patient portals where patients and physicians can interact, share information and perform important functions such as practices billing patients and accepting payments online. HIPAA 's rules require that these patient portals have strong security and privacy protections to prevent unauthorized access of these confidential PHI records.

Healthcare reform has created incentives to increase patient engagement to increase accountability, healthcare outcome and lower healthcare cost. In the early days of this movement, web portals were created with basic functions of requesting appointments, prescription refills, and paying medical bills (Butterfield, 2013). Today, patient portals allow users to access dictated visit reports, labs, approve access controls combined with the function of the web portals. As more health information is pushed to the portals, the users (patients and family) are more involved with healthcare decisions and more knowledgeable on available options that meet individual need.

Communication is the key in a health care field and having patient portals has increased information sharing between physician, nurses and patients. Patient portal is software that allows patients to get access to their own electronic medical record in a secure, efficient and easy to use program. Patient portals offer updated list of medications, diagnosis, allergies, lab results, patient history and more. Patients have access to their portals, which allows them to keep themselves up to date on not only their history but new information that doctors and nurses have given them. Also, having access to their portal allows them to keep updated information such as, discharge instructions for better care. This eliminates the time the nurses would spend on phone tag. It is a secure online software that provides patients with privacy and own username and password.

The objectives and scopes of the research are also defined. This chapter also describes the methodology to carry out and accomplish the objectives.

"Health information technology can be used to study or improve care coordination and its patient-centeredness. More pointedly, HIT provides an opportunity to organize disparate data sources into one cohesive, patient-centered record" (Steichen & Gregg, 2015, p. 34). With its ability to rapidly share health care information such as care plans and discharge summaries, clinical staff can make more timely decisions. Families will also be prompted to be more involved in the patient care due to the availability of current information and resources. There is no doubt that health care is evolving, and technology is creating new ways for us to stay connected, which is essential for successful care coordination.

Health care professionals have described how information technology is changing the way health care operates, and it has become the modern way of staying in touch with patients who have chronic conditions (Muhammad, Allen, Ali, Bonacina, & Adams, 2014). Education for patients can help prevent the addition of secondary conditions, and with proper instruction the disease process can be slowed down, all support patients can receive will benefit them and their family (Enworom & Tabi, 2015).

It was determined that the healthcare organization has a current patient portal and the staff needed to maintain this technology solution. By combining forces with other community

The background and significance of this study are properly presented in the introduction. The research question is presented at the end of the

Patients and their families can log into the portal anytime to recall the visit and follow up plan (Crane, 2014). Those patients who take multiple medication are easily able to keep track of their medication and request a refill. Patient are engaged as they log in to manage their medications, view labs, or to view a secure message. Studies have shown that patients with portals have more adherence to receiving influenza shots and mammograms as these patients receive important reminders via secure messaging (Goldzweing, 2013). Nowadays, patients want to be part of their medical care and hence improve quality of life. With access to patient data, patient are also willing to learn more about their disease process. Therefor, portal also provides patient with educational materials to understand the disease and treatment plan. Involving patient in their own care will result in better outcomes and adherence to treatment plan. Another result of portal is cost saving. For example, “the secure messaging feature of the patient portal could result in saving of $0.62 per appointment reminder, $1.75 per phone call to patients, and $2.69 for each lab result delivery” (Emont, 2011). While the amount may appear to be small, but it adds up to the overall

Portals can help in manage poly-pharmacy, provide patient education, engage patient and family in the care of managing chronic illness (Fant, 2015). When patients have access to their personal health records, they feel empower and want to do something about what is not normal. For example, a patient who is newly diagnosed with chronic kidney disease will have series of labs depending on which stage the kidney disease is in (“Understanding your lab,” n.d.). If the patient has access to portal, than the patient can easily access the lab results and share with his/her neprologist, dietitian, dialysis center, and other provides that the patient sees. There is no delay in retrieving the information or faxing or mailing the labs to the patient. Portal is very convenient as patient can be sitting at the comfort of the home to view labs, order medication refill, or even schedule an appointment. Provider's office with patient portal states of increase in efficiency in the workflow. The secure messaging to the provider decreases the amount of phone calls. Patient portal is a win-win situation for both the providers and the patients. While this technology is beginning to get attention, it is one such powerful tool to involve patient if implemented and utilized

A patient portal is a free online program that offers patients the tools to successfully manage and view their health care record. The Patient Portal offers a simple and convenient way to see and track your progress in one place.

It is also imperative to reevaluate the purpose of the research and its methods of how to go about doing it. The fact that there was no consideration of the patient as another party in the research was big loophole in the research. Moreover, I think the results were biased because the clinical staffs were briefed on the purpose before the observation. It left rooms for the participant to circumvent its screening approach to fit the study. Evaluating this research opened my mind to understanding researches results just by looking at the approached being used. In which helps me to answer my practice-based question.

There is an increase in the use of patient portals among older patients due to the following reasons: ability to manage their chronic illnesses, and the ability to easily communicate with their physician when they are having questions or changes in their healthcare condition. The truth is that many generations of people who are computer literate are getting older now. This makes it easier for them to easily adapt to the introduction of the patient portal. Nevertheless, there are still many older people that are finding it difficult to adapt to these new healthcare tools (Heath, 2016). I think the number of older people using patient portals would continue to increase. The real issue is some older patients complained that they are not aware

Today’s healthcare environment is rapidly changing thanks to advancements in technology, however, care coordination issues and the fragmentation of care are major issues that plagues patients. Traditional patient portals are typically tethered to a single hospital or clinic electronic health record system. This creates the burden of managing several portal accounts for patients who see multiple providers. A community-wide patient engagement solution gives patients a tool to access all medical records, request prescription refills, and communicate with providers across the community, regardless of the providers’ associations. Research has shown that patients desire to have an active role in their healthcare. Empowering patients with the right