Patient Portals Vs Patient Engagement: How It Relates?

Patient portals and patient engagement can be the two trending terms in healthcare to grasp. The terms are often used interchangeably, making it difficult to understand the differences between the two.

However, as healthcare experts, it is essential to understand the difference. In this post, we’ll define patient engagement, explain how it’s achieved with the help of patient portals, and outline its benefits for healthcare practices.

Patient portals Vs patient engagement

Recently there’s been a lot of hype about patient portals in various sectors of the healthcare industry. As part of the proposed criteria for Stage 3 of Meaningful Use, more than 25% of a healthcare provider’s patients must actively engage with their electronic health records, presumably via a patient portal in most cases.

Many of the inefficiency problems plaguing doctors and hospitals will allegedly be solved with the help of patient portals, as they’ll serve to organize data, facilitate communication, decrease costs, and, perhaps most importantly, contribute to increased patient engagement.

Given all the buzz around patient portals, it may be easy for providers to fall back on them as a quick fix for multiple issues. But how much can we rely on portals to effectively engage patients?

What should the true goal of a patient portal be? And, are there scenarios where the use of a portal could detract from a patient’s experience rather than enhance it?

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An overview of patient engagement

According to research firm HIMSS Analytics, the term patient engagement refers to ‘an organization’s strategy to get patients involved in actively and knowledgeably managing their health and wellness and that of family members and others for whom they have responsibility.’

Whether due to an overly complicated system, a lack of sufficient access to information, or other reasons, a large percentage of American patients simply do not take an active role in their healthcare. However, links between increased patient engagement and better clinical outcomes are clear.

How can patient portals help?

There are a few key metrics providers should consider when implementing a patient portal. Portals that emphasize the following features are more likely to engage patients and decrease costs.

Interoperability:

One of the more frustrating circumstances of our healthcare system is a lack of information sharing between practitioners. Either two different physicians have to repeat the same procedures and tests on a patient, or the patient needs to spend far too much time on the phone requesting copies of data and records.

A patient is less likely to want to engage with a patient portal if that portal is just one of many that he or she will have to become familiar with. Why bother learning to use a portal if the next doctor is going to have you learn an entirely different one?

It’s too much to worry about in a culture that’s already notoriously short on time. A portal that integrates seamlessly across various platforms, however, is more likely to get patients to invest some effort and engage with their care.

Transparency:

Lack of transparency is an issue perhaps even more frustrating to patients than interoperability. How often do physicians take the time to thoroughly explain a procedure or condition to a patient? How many Americans have received a huge doctor or hospital bill in the mail and had no idea where most of the charge came from?

Patient portals should promote transparency in our healthcare system. They should serve as a hub of information, with details specific to each patient as well as general literature that can help patients feel informed and confident.

Communication:

Getting a hold of one’s physician can be difficult. Doctors are busy and often overbooked, short on time even with patients who are in the office. Patient portals should serve as an avenue of clear, efficient communication, decreasing the need for faxes, missed calls, voicemails, and paper sharing.

How simple to be able to log into an interface and see your doctor’s recommendations and tips, or to be able to send an email that your doctor will see and respond to within a few hours. If it will save them from having to wait on the phone or use outdated technology to communicate with their providers, patients will be more willing to engage with portals.

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Challenges with patient portals

Patient portals can bring many positive changes to the healthcare space, but providers can’t rely solely on them to increase patient engagement. Recent studies have shown that many patients are dissatisfied with portals and don’t feel they’re adding value.

When might portals have a negative effect, leaving patients annoyed or confused? Imagine visiting your doctor after feeling ill for some time, then logging into a portal the following week only to see a fatal diagnosis pop up on the screen.

You’d likely feel angry and helpless, and all you’d have to help you is the words on the screen. Human compassion can’t be replicated by a computer program, no matter how sophisticated the program is.

Healthcare providers must take the time to discern between appropriate portal use and those situations where direct interaction is the best way to go. While solutions such as the Vozo patient portal solutions can get providers on the right track, it’s important not to dismiss continued efforts at patient engagement across the entire continuum of care.

Getting started with Vozo Patient Portals

As most of the patients are showing interest in accessing healthcare online – they are accepting the transformation into a more modernized approach. In that way, the conversion into patient portals has been very easy and convenient today.

Vozo patient portal software is emerging to be the best solution for enhancing the patient-physician relationship.

• Through advanced features like online prescription refills, appointment reminders, appointment scheduling, and rescheduling, bill payments, the patient can easily connect with their doctors via portals from anywhere.
• Vozo patient portal software holds basic and important information such as patient personal health records, insurance specifications, diagnoses, prescriptions, allergies, and more.
• Healthcare organizations and patient-relevant healthcare professionals can easily view the medical records online at any time and from any location – while the health records remain safe, secure and HIPAA compliant.
• The new and current healthcare records are no longer need to be updated manually on redundant paperwork because Vozo portals managed patient information can also be updated by the patients.

Getting started with Vozo is easy today! Schedule a quick demo with our expert team to know more about patient portal features and prices.