Portals: Promise for Patients

Two recent iHealthBeat articles caught my attention.  The first was on use of portals to engage patients and some of the challenges that need to be overcome.

Two recent iHealthBeat articles caught my attention.  The first was on use of portals to engage patients and some of the challenges that need to be overcome. My feeling on the challenges described is that these and other considerations area all important parts of the strategy and implementation planning processes. I found the article to be a nice complement to one of my latest writings on the role of enterprise portals. 

Of course we want to see a provider face-to-face when really needed, but more and more we want to use technology to help us manage our care.  Just look at some recent survey findings:

• 72% of respondents said they want to be able to book, cancel or change their physician appointment online
• 73% of respondents said they prefer to use a mobile device to request refills of prescriptions
• 90% of respondents said they prefer the Internet to other sources when accessing health information and education
• 88% said they want to receive email reminders about preventive or follow-up care;
• 76% said they want the option of having email consultations with physicians;
• 48% said they want their physicians to manage their electronic health records; and
• 44% said they want to manage their own EHRs
• 33% did not know if certain services like laboratory results, bill pay and electronic reminders were available to them online

Feel free to leave your thoughts about these portals on this post, or if you are a HIMSS member, the LinkedIn group has the start of a lively conversation on this subject.