Post on 23-Dec-2015
Antonio Vega Health IT Advisor June 10th, 2015
Pati ent Portal
2
Introducti on
3
As the federally designated HIT Regional Extension Center for Iowa, we provide support for eligible providers, Critical Access Hospitals and rural hospitals with attesting to CMS EHR Incentive program.
– Telligen has helped 1200 providers and 84 critical access hospitals and rural hospitals attest to Meaningful Use
Telligen
Who We Are
4
Antonio Vega I am a Health IT Advisor with Telligen and the regional
extension center. My work involves helping critical access hospitals and rural hospitals navigate the CMS EHR incentive program.
Contact Information Antonio Vega
avega@telligen.com(515) 362-8311
Introduction
5
Objecti ves
6
Patient Portal and Meaningful Use– Stage 2 Meaningful Use and the patient Portal – 2015 modified version of Stage 2
Implementing a Patient Portal
Registering a patient Developing talking points Creating a workflow
Objectives
7
Benefits of a patient Portal – Encouraging Patient engagement – Setting expectations – Making a practice more efficient
Patient Portal and the Benefits to the Patient
Incorporating a patient portal into your practice
Potential obstacles to overcome
Objectives
8
Meaningful Use
9
Current Patient Engagement View, Download and Transmit
– Requires that at least 5% of your patient population access your organization patient portal
– This is for both Eligible Hospitals and Eligible Providers
Eligible Professionals secure messaging – Requires that 5% of patients use secure messaging throughout the
reporting period
Meaningful Use
10
Proposed Changes to Patient Engagement The patient engagement requirements
View, Download and Transmit – Needing only one patient to view, download and transmit
Eligible Providers use of secure messaging will need: – Functionality enabled during the reporting period
Meaningful Use
11
Patient Engagement Eligible Providers and Eligible Hospitals will still need to have a
patient portal
Getting patient engage with their own healthcare is a big part of using a patient portal – The Meaningful Use program is still encouraging participants to
actively engage patient in the use of the portal functionality
Meaningful Use
12
Implementi ng a Portal
13
The implementation of a patient portal can be similar to implementing a electronic health record
Things to consider:– Workflow redesign– Physician and staff buy in– Education of staff – Education of patients – Is the portal HIPPA compliant – How much customization can be done with the portal
Implementing a Portal
14
Training Staff The importance of training staff:
– Will help to sell the patient portal to patients– Better understanding on how to leverage the functionality of the
patient portal – Answer questions that patients might have about portal – Alleviate potential concerns that staff might have in regards to the
implementation of portal
Implementing a Portal
15
Testing of a Patient Portal As part of staff training it is important for staff to be able to
interact with the patient portal This will aid in staff understanding of
– How portal will interact with the EHR system– Designing a workflow with a patient portal in mind– Showing the functionality of a portal – Demonstration of the communication functions of the portal
Implementing a Portal
16
What to consider during the implementation process – How are messages going to be filtered
Will the messages go directly to the doctor or be filtered by the front office staff
– What type of policies need to be in place to make the patient portal successful
How many days can pass before a message needs to be responded to What type of information will be shared over the portal; labs,
assessment and plan and the patient summary.
Implementing a Portal
17
Other aspects to consider How is information handled within the portal
– Will it stay in the patient account – Or will if flow into the patient Electronic Health Record
How is sensitive information handled within the patient portal– Can abnormal lab/radiology results be withheld from going to the
patient portal
Implementing a Portal
18
Registering Pati ents
19
Incorporating a strategy on educating the patient on the patient portal is important to receive full buy in
Educating the patient should be the role of the entire clinic staff– Front office staff– Nursing – Doctor – Checkout staff
Registering Patients
20
Strategy to receiving patient buy in– Distribute fliers around the office – Develop talking points for all office staff to use– Avoid just asking for an email address
Have clear benefits of why a patient should register– Have a laptop ready in the office to demonstrate how the portal works– Having a physician talk to the patient about the portal functionality
Registering Patient
21
Example of Talking Points Do you use e-mail? The portal is just a secure e-mail system
that we can use to communicate You can send your provider a message and it goes right into
your chart, so all of your information at hand when I read and respond
It’s really very easy to use. If you use the internet, you’ll most likely find the portal helpful and easy to navigate.
Registering Patient
22
Benefi ts of a Pati ent Portal
23
Reduce call volume Patient can use the portal to securely message their provider
or nurse Question tend to be more precise over secure messaging
oppose to phone call Less time to respond to messages then to phone call Communication through direct messaging is more efficient
then playing phone tag with providers and patient All information can potentially flow into the patient chart
allowing for better record keeping
Benefits of a Patient Portal
24
Electronic Access Patient have the ability to have electronic access to there
health information– Can View, Download or transmit their health information onto a third
part via direct secure messaging – Access to normal lab values – Can directly ask for refills from providers without calling the clinic
Benefits of a Patient Portal
25
Patient Engagement Patient have the ability to take control of their own healthcare
– With electronic access to there patient summary patient are able to see the medication they are on
– Reference the recommendation the physician made at the previous visit
– Monitor their own labs and vital signs
Benefits of a Patient Portal
26
Areas to consider Setting reasonable expectation on how long it will take for a
message to be responded for
What types of lab results and radiology results will be displayed via the portal
What type of questions can be answered over the portal and what type of questions require an in office visit
Benefits of Patient Portal
27
Making a Practice More Efficient Reduction in Call Volume
– Less phone tag– Questions are precise
Better documentation– Direct messages flow directly into the patient chart– Patient have access to labs and radiology results
Patient Engagement – Access to clinical Summary
Benefits of a Patient Portal
28
Portal and Pati ent Benefi ts
29
HealthCare Compliance Study conducted by Journal of Internal Medicine, examined
the benefits of allowing patients to view their physicians notes post visits
The study followed 13,564 patients over a one year period Of the 13,564 patients enrolled in the study 11,155 patients
opened one of there physician notes at least once over the one year period.
Portal and Patient Benefits
Source: Delbanco, Tom, Walker, Jan; “Inviting Patients to Read their Doctors Notes: A Quasi-experimental Study and a Look Ahead”; Journal of Annals of Internal Medicine: October 2nd 2012
30
Healthcare Compliance Results:
– Study found that 60-78% of patients reported an increase in medication adherence
– 20-42% reported sharing notes with other members of their care team
– 77-88% of patients feeling more in control of their own health care– 99% of the patients enrolled in the study wanted the open notes
program to continue after the study was over
Portal and Patient Benefits
Source: Delbanco, Tom, Walker, Jan; “Inviting Patients to Read their Doctors Notes: A Quasi-experimental Study and a Look Ahead”; Journal of Annals of Internal Medicine: October 2nd 2012
31
Benefits to the Patient Enhancing Care
– Patient are able to access the most up to date portion of their healthcare record
– Eliminate the number of phone calls that it takes to relay simple information like normal lab results
– Patients are more willing to ask difficult and embarrassing questions, because of the offer of private and direct level of communication
Portal and Patient Benefits
32
Benefits to the Patient Better Customer Service
– Able to schedule appointments through portal– Request refills – Pay bills online through portal access– View labs and clinical summary– Download clinical summary and send to another healthcare provider
Portal and Patient Benefits
33
Incorporati ng a pati ent portal into your practi ce
34
Creating a Workflow Developing a workflow that incorporates patient engagement
with the portal or education about the portal is important – This starts at the check in process with asking for the patients email to
set up a portal account– Or working with a patient that has a portal account that has not used
the account yet– Having a designated staff to work with patient that would like further
education or help with setting up and creating their account
Incorporating a Portal
35
Creating a Workflow Nursing and Provider Staff
– Having talking points that the nurse or doctor can reference Referring back to the use of portal can help create buy in with the portal Mention what information from this visit will be available on the portal Making sure the patient are aware they can communicate with their
provider via direct secure messaging
Incorporating a Portal
36
Upon Checkout Having the checkout staff
– Work with the patient to schedule their next appointment
– Demonstrate how a patient can update key healthcare information via portal access
Health insurance, address change and next of kin
Incorporating a Portal
37
Extra Training If the need is there
– Offering educational training to your patients to help them understand the functionality of the portal
– Have an in office staff train patients at their clinic visit
– Follow up phone calls to see if patient has set up their portal account
Incorporating a Portal
38
Potenti al Barriers to Overcome
39
Registration of Patients – Multi step registration process
Email address Unique password Completing of registration is often completed at home Managing multiply family member accounts
– Required Email address Some patients might not have email address Unwilling to give email address
– Internet access Slow internet connection can make access a patient portal more difficult
Potential Barriers to Overcome
40
Patient barriers to using a patient portal – Slight learning curve for patients to understand on how to use the
portal
– Patients barriers Patients becoming an active participant of there healthcare Patient health literacy Patients level of cognitive understanding Language barriers
Potential Barriers to Overcome
41
Thank You
42
Questions Contact Information
Antonio Vega avega@telligen.com
(515) 362-8311
This material was prepared by Telligen, Medicare Quality Innovation Network Quality Improvement Organization, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 11SOW-IA-B4-6/2015-11065