A Patient Portal Software is a very helpful and versatile tool which supports patients to engage with their healthcare professionals and care team in the most effective way. Government officials encourage medical practices to use this digital tool to automate administrative and clinical workflows.
What is a patient portal?
Patient Portal Software is a robust platform that is designed to enhance how patients communicate and interact with their healthcare providers. There are two types of patient portal systems, a standalone system, and an integrated patient portal software system that comes with an EMR software system or a Practice Management (PM) Software System. Some examples of integrated patient portal software include; AdvancedMD EMR Software, athenahealth EMR Software, drchrono EMR Software and, Nextech EHR Software. The patient portals are web-based tools that allow 24/7 accessibility and connectivity.
What are the major benefits of using a Patient Portal Software System?
Patient portal adoption rates are increasing in the United States as more and more patients log onto the portal to interact with their clinician and care team. The Patient Portal Software provides great value to both patients and medical practitioners. Let’s look at the major reasons to go for this Powerful Software Solution.
- Encourages better physician and patient relationship – The platform provides a bridge of communication between both parties allowing them to exchange health information and review medical notes. This opportunity to connect keeps patients satisfied throughout their healthcare delivery process.
- Enhance clinical outcomes – The prescription refill and renewal features help to improve medication adherence.
- Automation helps to optimize daily workflows – By automating and digitizing tasks such as medical billing and scheduling helps staff members to focus on patient-related tasks and
What are the functionalities and features that make up a top-ranked patient portal software system?
To strike the right choice the potential buyer needs to be aware of the common features and tools that are found common in a great Patient Portal Software. The following are the powerful features that patients consider vital in the software system.
- Scheduling appointments online – This feature enables patients to book appointments online in a matter of a few minutes. The patients can set appointments with more than one physician and patients are even provided with available time slots options for the availability of the provider.
- Viewing important health-related information – This includes viewing lab results and or clinical notes in a click. A patient can even instantly message and question about lab results through the software system, for example, this functionality is offered by ElationHealth EHR Software.
- Online bill payment facility – All billing information is provided online and patients can easily pay their bills online without any hassle.
- Ability to attach and scan documents – The best patient portals allow patients to attach and upload images from results and MRI scans for the doctor to view and comment from the software.
- Automatic alerts when new messages or lab results are received – It can be quite frustrating for patients to deal with a patient portal platform that does not send automatic alerts and notifications to patients. Nobody has the time to manually check for new messages or any replies. Instant alert facility via email messages and SMS tell your software system provides access to all updated information.
Final Takeaway
Once the Patient Portal Software has been implemented it is important that you make sure that it gets used and patients are not reluctant in using it. You can train your staff about the benefits of the software solution so they can also communicate it well to the patients. As a provider, you need to make efforts from your end by talking about the patient portal during the visit and having an in-clinic demo for patients to see how it works.
