How a Patient Portal Improves Health Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction

By Holly Johnson, Marketing Executive

Every year, more healthcare organisations realise the benefits of patient portal adoption. But it wasn’t until the technology boom of the covid-19 pandemic that brought the unique advantages of these secure sites into fruition. Now, it can be considered essential to bridging the gap in virtual patient care.

Patient Portal

What is a Patient Portal?

A patient portal is a secure website for patients personal healthcare. The online tool allows users to book and keep track of upcoming appointments. They also allow you to view and download various correspondence, such as appointment letters, billing and so on. Patients can access the portal via tablet, smartphone and any other web-enabled device for convenience.

With an increasing number of hospitals implementing a Patient Portal, we look at what makes this popular online tool such a modern-day necessity to your setting.

 

3 Key Benefits of a Patient Portal

A patient portal is a web-based tool that provides your patients with secure online access to their medical details so they can take a more active role. Many portals are also integrated into an existing EPR System or Hospital Management Software solution, meaning there are also several benefits for healthcare providers as well.

Some of these benefits include:

1. To build better patient-doctor relationships.
Portals offer an easily accessible platform on which both parties can conveniently share health information and medical correspondence. This provides a better sense of support and understanding.

The patient might also be able to request virtual consultations, providing much needed face-to-face communication when otherwise it might not be possible.

 

2. To improve clinical outcomes.
Giving patients the ability to be proactive in their care can help increase response times and speed up communication for outstanding illnesses.

 

3. To optimize your workflow.
Digitising manual tasks (e.g., billing and scheduling) can free up your staff, allowing them to focus their time to activities more directly on patient care.

 

Patient Portal

With a patient portal, users can:

✓ Request appointments

✓ Review upcoming appointment details

✓ Read, print and save hospital correspondence

✓ Securely view personal information

✓ Pay deposits and outstanding balances

✓View transaction history


Is a Patient Portal right for my hospital or clinic?

Portals can increase patient loyalty and improve workflow. Patients are more likely to meet appointments and be proactive about their care. The ongoing communication that a portal provides encourages patients to feel valued by their healthcare provider and helps build a strong, reliable relationship.

It can be challenging to initially get patients to sign up for and use the portal. However, by encouraging hospital staff to promote portal adoption, and providing clear, easy-to-follow instructions to your patients, it will be a smooth transition.

In conclusion, implementing a patient portal is a great way to improve the patient experience all around. Providing hospitals are proactive in encouraging its adoption by patients, they will see greater patient engagement and satisfaction. As well as a more streamlined workflow that saves time and effort for staff and providers.

 

Find out more about the Compucare Patient Portal