Provider Portals

In today’s world of electronic information, we look to the internet for all facets of our daily life, including our health information.  As e-health has become a reality with more and more of our medical information maintained in computers; patients, physicians and healthcare organizations alike pursue ways in which to access and use electronic health information.  The use of PORTALS by both healthcare professionals and the general patient population is rapidly increasing not only due to the desire to obtain e-health information but because many of the new healthcare regulations require it.  A “portal” can be conceptualized as a gateway or door to the data maintained in computerized systems about medical care delivered to patients and access to those who provide that care. Typically, the internet is the avenue to use such portals.  Depending upon who is seeking access to e-health information, portals are configured to meet the needs of patients, physicians (and other healthcare providers), payers, and government registries.

FluidEdge is working with their provider clients to guide the selection, implementation, and support of the best portals to meet their organizational needs.  Our seasoned consultants can provide the expertise you need to take advantage of the many advantages e-health portals can provide:

Patient Portals allow individuals to access their own health information. Patient portals offer many advantages to the patient for managing their healthcare and communicate about their medical conditions with their own physicians and other providers.  Depending upon their technical sophistication and available features, patient portals can provide the following:

• Administrative communication with physician offices to check appointment schedules, request appointments, examine current statements, submit payment for services and receive reminders for upcoming appointments.
• Ability to check results of lab and other medical tests, request a prescription refill, and view (or download) information in their medical record. Access to physician offices, hospitals, and Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) may all be available as the e-Health environment expands.
• Complete new patient intake forms, update physician records with changes in demographics and/or insurance coverage, and submit information from other medical providers.
• Obtain post-treatment education and review disease-specific care recommendations.
• Report information on their ongoing monitoring of chronic conditions (such as daily glucose testing for diabetics).
• Communicate with care providers through messaging features and, if provided, receive directions for medical care (without an office visit).
• Manage the medical care of their family members (such as children and elders) by serving as a proxy for these individuals.

Physician Portals provide opportunities for providers to access a wealth of information about their patients that is maintained outside their own practice walls.  Although, the main goal of the physician portals is to support “continuity of care” to patients, they also offer many administrative and clinical resources advantages to the physician, including:

• Ability to obtain treatment data and test results on their patients from other care providers (including practitioners, hospitals, labs, etc.)
• Use of the portal as an alternative to paper correspondence, email, phone conversations, etc. for referrals and consultations.
• Integration of information from care providers of different specialties, in different locations, over long periods of time.
• Ability to upload and download electronic medical records from other healthcare practitioners.

Registry Portals provide hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers to submit data to public registries for immunization, infectious diseases, syndromic surveillance, and other public health reporting required by healthcare regulations.  As healthcare reform continues to expand, providers must meet CMS, Meaningful Use, HITECH, HIPAA, etc. regulations to electronically submit data to various “health registries” about the occurrence of specific health conditions in their patient populations.  Since the emerging healthcare regulations continue to expand the breadth of data and specifications for submission, it is essential that providers remain vigilant to ensure their own systems are able to comply.  In addition to electronic submission of medical data, registry portals also offer advantages to the provider relative to obtaining state-wide and nation-wide information about the current incidence and state of specific diseases and medical conditions.

All healthcare portals must comply with regulations for patient confidentiality and the privacy and security of data.  Portals should be easy to use, provide appropriate administrative tools, offer ability to download or forward information, and have capacity for ongoing expansion.  Portals are typically associated with electronic medical records, practice management systems, clinical information systems or HIEs.  They also require complex technical planning and infrastructures to ensure connectivity across the e-health environment, which may not be readily available in many provider organizations.

FluidEdge has the resources, the expertise, and the tools to help you establish state-of the-art portals for secure access to the health information your organization needs to obtain or share with its patients and other providers.