Although the health IT industry is experiencing new technological breakthroughs with every passing day, there are certain people with limited horizons that tend to overshadow the true potential of such innovations. Patient portals could be one of the finest examples to quote here. Over time, physicians have been keen in adopting Electronic Medical Records (EMR), but some of them along with some patients have not paid enough attention to patient portals – a tool used to ensure patient engagement and much more.
It is either that they never realized the potential benefits that patient portals could bring to the healthcare industry or they chose to focus on other health IT applications that solely dealt with the clinical and business side of the practice. An example of limited knowledge would be the belief that patient portals are simply meant to facilitate patients and physicians in communication. No doubt, they do that, nevertheless, the functionality of patient portals is not limited to eliminating communication barriers only.
“Patient portals have come a long way from merely being a communication platform. They certainly are an essential part of the healthcare continuum. For instance, while EMRs focus of improving the care quality, patient portals help in better health management”, says a California based health IT consultant.
Let’s talk about some of the important features of patient portals. These web based portals have completely eliminated the paper use; patients can access their health records online. From scheduling appointments themselves to generating queries, these solutions allow patients to do it all from virtually anywhere, at any time. Moreover, today, patient portals have also become an educational platform. Patients can login and get detailed information about the diseases and comprehend them in a much better way. Once out of medication, patients had to physically visit the doctor or make a telephone call for prescription– thereby increasing the overhead expenses. With patient portals they just have to generate a request, and everything is done within seconds. The features like electronic alerts and online messaging has resulted both in lower cost and improved care coordination.
While the patients have been true beneficiaries of the patient portal, healthcare professionals have not remained out of the loop either. Saved time is one of the major benefits that patient portals have provided them with. Now they have ample time to work on ensuring better patient engagement. More interestingly, established EMR vendors have also eliminated the need for choosing a separate patient portal altogether. They provide all-in-one solution that incorporates all three components of health management, EMR, practice management and patient portal, within a single package.
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