A Closer Look at Patient Portals: Which Companies are Doing It Right and How

Gone are the dark days of being placed on hold when calling to refill a prescription, schedule a doctor’s appointment or hunt down test results. Patient portals are turning the light on for those who feel left in the dark about their own health.

Hospitals nationwide from urban to rural areas are taking note of what patients want—information about their health, when they want it and where they want it. Patients can now access healthcare records, video chat with physicians and schedule appointments from the comfort of their smartphone, tablet or computer through dedicated, user-friendly patient portals. While certain healthcare providers and software companies lack the necessary tools or the marketing to drive patient engagement, others, like the ones shown below, are blazing a trail in telehealth.

AllScripts FollowMyHealth

The Allscripts FollowMyHealth app offers patients a comprehensive portal that houses lab results and health records, doctors’ notes, medical advice, appointment information and more. Used by Sharp HealthCare, St. Joseph and St. Jude Medical Group, Hoag Medical Group and other major providers, the app ranks 4.7 out of 5 stars on both Google Play and the App Store, with over 100,000 total reviews. Many of which praise the app for providing them with valuable information at their fingertips. Among the portal’s highlighted features are the capabilities that allow patients to view family member’s medical profiles with proper authorization and Apple VoiceOver features for visually impaired users.

With over 1 million installations to date, FollowMyHealth will soon garner an even larger engagement rate as new users from Microsoft HealthVault, a patient and consumer engagement platform which will retire in November, transition over. The streamlined move will allow users to continue tracking and sharing their health data with family, friends and home care teams.

InteliChart

According to healthcare management solutions company Intelichart, patients who use portals are 2.6 times more likely to choose to stay patients than nonusers. That’s why in today’s era of value-based healthcare and healthcare consumerism, Intelichart advises providers to lay the foundation for optimal health by eliminating barriers to entry through a simple and secure portal sign up, a standard enrollment policy, available in-office registration and effective marketing.

For healthcare providers who don’t want to adopt a third-party patient portal or make their own, Intelichart can develop a minimally viable product (MVP) patient portal, complete with iOS and Android app versions in 12-14 months. The Intelichart HealthyOutcomes platform also offers a patient-engagement suite that maintains integration with over 25 electronic health record (EHR) products, including Allscripts, Meditech and Cerner.

Epic Systems

Since 2015, Epic Systems MyChart patient portal has consistently received the number one spot in the Best in KLAS rankings. The annual survey looks at the highest-rated vendors in the healthcare IT space based on interviews with providers and payers representing more than 4,500 hospitals and 2,500 outpatient clinics.

Used by major healthcare providers, including Kaiser and Memorial Care, and academic medical centers UCLA, UCI and UC Davis, MyChart allows patients to manage their health information and communication with their doctors online and on both Android and iOS mobile devices. The app also gives patients a unified view of their data from any provider that uses Epic Systems.

Recognized by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) as one of 2018’s “Most Wired” hospitals, Altru Health System also uses the MyChart portal. Here, Altru patients can view records of their Radiology and Pathology reports within four days, manage care of children and elderly parents and request an Altru Express eVisit to receive treatment for specific conditions from home.

These remote treatment visits allow Altru patients to fill out questionnaires regarding symptoms, chat via message with a responding provider and potentially receive a course of treatment or prescription, depending on their condition. eVisits can be initiated 24-hours a day, seven days a week, with Altru providers responding to eVisits initiated after 7pm by 11am the following day!

Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (CPSI)

Healthcare information technology solutions and services provider CPSI serves more than 4,600 acute, post-acute and ambulatory healthcare facilities within the domestic rural and community healthcare market in the United States. The company and its subsidiaries connect communities, patients and providers to facilitate more effective population health management. Focusing on the expansion of patent engagement solutions, CPSI acquired Get Real Health in April.

The acquisition allowed CPSI to strengthen its position in community healthcare by offering Get Real Health’s four comprehensive patient engagement and empowerment solutions, including chronic care management process system Ellie, patient portal Instant PHR, clinical and personal health data aggregation app CHBase and its most recently-launched product, personal health record solution Lydia. Like AllScripts Follow My Health portal, the Real Health Lydia portal will allow Microsoft HealthVault account holders to seamlessly transition their personal health records onto its platform.

The Future of Patient Portals

Patient portals have come a long way. Instead of adding to patient frustration, they are beginning to revolutionize the way patients view healthcare through user-friendly portals that can be accessed anywhere. From eliminating the fuss of refilling prescriptions to being able to check in with your family doctor when your child is sick on vacation, these systems are helping make healthcare much more consumer focused. When patients have access to their personal health data at their fingertips, it allows them to take better control of their health and makes them feel like partners in care, rather than just recipients, studies show.

If your team is looking to shine a light on your own patient portal offerings, our team at Orange Label can help. As experts in the intricate realm of healthcare marketing, we have created strategic advertising and marketing plans for a range of healthcare clients, including Dameron Hospital, San Jose Medical Group, Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare, and more. From enhancing patient engagement to generating awareness on a new medical procedure, click here to discover how we can help you reach your marketing goals.