Patient Portal Features: How to Improve Patient Engagement (2023)

The authority2018 statistics surveyshowed 90% adoption of patient portal applications in healthcare as the primary means of storing health metrics and powerful patient engagement software.

What is a patient portal

Accordingprimary definition, a patient portal, is a website that provides 24/7 access to patients' personal health information via any device. With a username and password, patients can view a history of visits, test results, vaccinations and payments.

Additionally, having patients on patient portals gives them the opportunity to:

• make appointments easily
• improve your health awareness with a wide range of educational resources
• Communicate directly with healthcare professionals
• get valuable information about your health history with a variety of data.

Benefits and challenges of using the patient portal

Obviously, as software that provides users with easily accessible information, patient portals can bring significant benefits to both physicians and patients. One of the main benefits of using the Patient Portal isdramatic increasevonpatient involvementdue to opening up multiple opportunities for patients to participate in their healthcare by activating and using the patient portal.

However, the downside is the challenge of implementing patient engagement software. Given the complexity of healthcare-related activities and the number of stakeholders that ensure successful outcomes in the healthcare process, it is not surprising that patient portal software must meet the highest technological standards.

It is also important to observe the strict professional and legal standards set in the medical industry, as failure to meet these standards may interrupt your use of the software or limit the capabilities of the patient portal in resolving many patient engagement issues.

Importance of patient retention

In many cases, the patient's level of involvement with healthcare determines the medical outcome and creates the foundation for a positive patient experience, which in turn helps build a positive image of healthcare professionals.

AccordingWorld Health Organization reportPatient involvement has become an integral part of healthcare, as once patients are involved in the process, they are better able to make informed and health-conscious decisions.

In particular, patient loyalty through personalized patient portals makes the business of medical providers more sustainable.

Patients expect healthcare professionals to involve them in healthcare activities.

The active digital transformation of the medical industry requires healthcare services to be increasingly responsive and transparent to patients' needs.

Today, medical service providers offer several options to improve patient engagement through online portals. For example, 73% of customers who have implemented patient portals in their healthcare systems offer secure messaging, 36% have included a personal health tracker in their service package, and 66% have enabled the option to renew prescriptions.

Additionally, medical organizations use portal software as the primary clinical communication channel that helps to:

• Facilitate the employee billing process
• Increase accuracy and eliminate scheduling conflicts
• Improve accountability in providing medical services to patients.

Statistic dataconfirm the growing popularity of portals among healthcare consumers: use of patient portals was recently reported by 52%, compared to a lower percentage in previous years. It is important to note that patients who choose not to use the patient portal option cite privacy concerns as the reason. This means that if they could feel reassured by the above concerns, they would be willing to access the patient portal more often.

WANT TO IMPROVE PATIENT ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PATIENT PORTAL?

Top Players in Patient Portals

Due to the favorable consumer response to the evolving digital trends in the medical industry, the market is responding with numerous patient portal offerings.

The main players in this sector are primarily US and UK based EHR (Electronic Health Records) companies which occupy a leading position in offering high quality certified health technology.

For example,Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (EUA)offers its services to more than 2,000 hospitals and health plan operators and connects more than 18 million (!) consumers. Its patient engagement solutions aim to meet the needs of healthcare professionals, hospitals and healthcare systems.

McKesson Corporation (EUA)is an industry veteran serving more than 50% of US hospitals and 20% of physicians to promote patient access to the EHR to improve patient retention.

medfusionheadquartered in North Carolina, is a leading development company focused on improving patient-provider communication through digital, providing healthcare IT solutions to diverse physician practices.

Check out our case study: Australia's leading peer-to-peer platform enabling independent caregivers to connect directly with the older community

Key features to consider when developing a patient portal

It should be noted that the final requirement for HIPAA compliance is that all patient portal providers ensure compliancerlimited accessto protected health information by allowing the use of a secure username and strong password for each individual user.

When providing compliance, it is important that patient portal developers are careful to include thisthe following functionson your product’s feature set to improve patient engagement:

secure messages

Healthcare providers expect secure messaging on 87% of the software's core functionality, as this option allows patients and physicians to engage in secure communications.

Additionally, secure messaging features that can be implemented through a variety of flexible deployment options have good prospects.Application in the treatment of chronic diseasesinsidetelemedicine systems.

patient registration

Portals are beneficial to easily manage the patient registration process. Patient portals allow for easy login to gain access to records or complete patient forms to take a test, obtain information about health records, retrieve immunization records or prescription drug lists.

Since enrollment is designed with patient convenience in mind, there is a strong likelihood that patient retention will improve.

patient planning

Online Appointment Scheduling is one of the most important features of the Patient Portal, as it allows the patient to schedule an appointment on a specific date or at the most convenient times for the patient, regardless of their actual location.

If system settings are adjusted to users' needs, this feature will certainly make patients more likely to engage in healthcare practices, so developers should be careful to provide efficient solutions if appointment scheduling or confirmation is needed.

Related:

appointment reminders

Medical organizations make consumer convenience their top priority. As an effective communication solution, appointment reminders are essential for improving patient engagement.

The development of this feature will allow multiple channels to create fail-safe appointment reminders, sending text messages about scheduled meetings, sending emails to patients or recorded messages. By using this option, receptionists and administrators can resolve outstanding issues instead of spending a lot of time on calls.

Prescription Refills

Ongoing treatment and repeated medical procedures often require the patient to have access to prescriptions. By facilitating this process, healthcare professionals can expect to improve patient retention.

Furthermore, this solution can be a game-changer in terms of optimal use of time, as it automatically eliminates unnecessary appointments from the agenda.

Online payment options

The implementation of patient portals has shown the increase in patient payments, among other positive changes in the healthcare technology environment.in 4% to 8%.Including this feature in the portal's feature set allows clinicians to track clients' outstanding bills.

Furthermore, the introduction of online payments increases the number of options for autopayers. This option is crucial not only for increasing the revenue cycle, but also for saving time for everyone involved.

patient education

Patient portals can provide valuable resources to raise patients' awareness of how to shape healthy habits.

Allowing patients to have instant access to health related educational information can be considered one of the powerful patient engagement solutions. Patients can have content tailored to their condition delivered directly to their account.

proxy access

Healthcare consumers often need quick access to information about their loved ones' prescription drugs and health conditions (eg, children, elderly parents).

Access can be enabled by creating a uniform personal health record with registration as an authorized representative. As authentication is usually required in several steps, it is important that this feature is designed and developed by a professional team. Information uploaded after successful proxy registration can be accessed from any computer, tablet or smartphone.

Of course, with the total number of mobile phone users currently achieved2.7 billion people, the patient portal software developers must provide impeccable adaptability of these features in the patient portalmobile appsas well as looking at data security to create an optimal patient experience and thereby improve user engagement.

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Final considerations

With the advent of online platforms, patient portals have shown great results in the health area due to the wide opportunities to add value to patients, presenting a positive dynamic in terms of the range of options offered to users and the active participation of participants.

When the core functionality of the patient portal is designed and built byThe specialistHealthcare IT companyspecialized in offercustom software solutionsGiven the specific needs of the healthcare provider, patient engagement software becomes the most important care management tool.

In case of a positive impact on patient engagement, patient portals attach great importance to service simplification, generating higher revenue for medical institutions and medical providers and ensuring a higher level of healthcare for patients.