Patient portals can make or break a positive care experience.
As the healthcare sector begins to embrace the idea of patients as consumers, having an efficient and easy to use patient portal is a necessity.
But of all the information given to patients during check in and registration, how can providers and their staff emphasize their digital front doors as part of their patient experience?
Since joining Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in 2020, Ravi Patel has increased patient portal usage from 27% to 83%. Here are some best practices the vice president of digital health implemented with his efforts.
Always offer access
Through the Every Patient, Every Time initiative, patients are offered access and assistance with activating their patient portal account during each interaction with a point-of-service staff member. According to Patel, this simple step created a “steep increase” in portal utilization.
Flex the functionality
An efficient patient portal gives patients more control over their care, enabling them to view upcoming appointments, schedule future appointments, pay bills, and view test results. They’re also able to state a preference in how they communicate with providers.
As patient portal usage increased, after one year the hospital began to invest in adding more functions to the portal. For example, to simplify and streamline the scheduling process, online and over the phone, patients are asked questions based on an algorithm to connect them to the right provider or specialist.
The hospital has also since integrated telemedicine and a symptom checker tool into their patient portal.
Use the data to identify and address other issues
As digital strategies were initiated and more functions were added to the patient portal, it was important to monitor its performance for both productivity and efficiency.
“[Performance management] becomes a critical component of success because now you can measure how you’re doing in real time,” Patel said. “And then be agile enough to flip the switch and go back and forth [to see what is an isn’t working.]”
Doing so enabled the hospital to identify problems within their patient population, typically related to socio-economic disparities, and provide solutions. For example, the portal’s text messaging feature can connect patients who need assistance with transportation to their appointments with social worker’s resources to help them, which helps reduce their no-show percentage.
Jasmyne Ray is the revenue cycle editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A robust patient portal can make a positive difference in a patient's experience and satisfaction with their care.
Before investing in additional functions, Patel found simply telling patients about the portal during each interaction was enough to increase utilization.