PatientEngagementHIT

Patient Portals

GAO Comments on HHS Efforts to Drive Patient Portal Use

July 25, 2017 - HHS should re-evaluate its campaigns to drive patient portal use and access to health data, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) representative in the agency’s Watchdog Report blog late last week. The blog post featured GAO healthcare team director Carolyn Yocom, who followed up on findings from a March 2017 GAO report about patient data access in the era of EHRs and meaningful...

Read More


More Articles

AHIMA Form Standardizes Patient Health Data Access Requests

by Sara Heath

The American Healthcare Informatics Management Association (AHIMA) has released a standardized model for patient health data access requests in an effort to streamline the process, according to an organization statement emailed to journalists....

Why Patients Value Patient Portal Health Data Access

by Sara Heath

Patients enjoy having patient portal health data access because it allows them to take ownership of their own care, makes them feel empowered as partners in their treatments, and helps them detect and identify errors their providers may have...

Reports Note Uptick in Hospital Patient Engagement Technology

by Sara Heath

US hospitals and health systems are increasingly adopting patient engagement technology to enhance their care quality and drive outcomes, according to two separate reports from the American Hospital Association’s Hospital & Health Networks...

ONC Offers Improvements for Patient Medical Records Requests

by Sara Heath

Healthcare organizations must develop and communicate clear protocol for patient medical records requests, according to the ONC. In a recent report, the agency explained that although patients can view their health data via the patient portal,...

OpenNotes Launch Gives 500K Patients Access to Health Data

by Sara Heath

Allina Health has officially launched OpenNotes, allowing its nearly 500,000 patients access to health data and clinician notes. The health system serves individuals in Minnesota and Wisconsin and is the first in the area to adopt the OpenNotes...

Patient Portal, Secure Messaging User Opinions Evolving

by Sara Heath

Even seasoned patient portal users need more direction using various tool functions, primarily secure messaging, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. The researchers set out to determine how experienced...

Exploring Basic Patient Engagement Technology, Health IT

by Sara Heath

As healthcare takes a digital turn, it will be important for industry professionals to understand basic patient engagement technology. Health IT is a core aspect of federal incentive programs, and is becoming the future for patient activation...

Patient Engagement Strategies for Young, Healthy Populations

by Sara Heath

The term “patient engagement” usually elicits images of extensive wellness plans, long patient portal messages, and chronic disease management. However, patient engagement strategies are different for young and healthy patient populations....

Using OpenNotes for Positive Impact on Patient Data Access

by Sara Heath

It is difficult to discuss patient portals and patient data access without mentioning OpenNotes. OpenNotes was created in 2010 to allow patients to view their clinician notes using health technologies such as patient portals. Since then, OpenNotes...

ONC Adds Patient Education Materials to Patient Portal Guides

by Sara Heath

ONC has partnered with the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) to instruct clinicians in adding patient education materials into the patient portal.  The two agencies collaborated to add ODPHP’s myhealthfinder...

Debunking 3 Common Patient Engagement Myths

by Sara Heath

Numerous and often conflicting patient-centered care strategies have given rise to a number of patient engagement myths. More healthcare experts than ever are espousing their patient care knowledge, leading to nebulous assertions about which...

OpenNotes Sparks Patient-Centered Mental Health Treatment

by Sara Heath

OpenNotes and patient data access have caused a shift toward patient-centered mental health treatment that providers are acutely aware of, according to recent research published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. OpenNotes – the...

Time, Personnel Issues Top Patient Engagement Strategy Barriers

by Sara Heath

Time is a significant patient engagement strategy barrier for 63 percent of healthcare organizations, according to a recent NEJM Catalyst survey. The survey of 555 healthcare executives, clinical leaders, and clinicians, targeted barriers to...

4 Steps to Successful Patient Portal Adoption, Integration

by Sara Heath

Between regulatory requirements and calls for stronger patient-centered care, patient portal adoption has become an integral part of a healthcare organization’s health technology suite. Patient portals are an important regulatory requirement,...

Digital Patient Engagement Measures Aid Clinician Improvement

by Sara Heath

A Boston-based research team has developed a viable set of digital patient engagement measures to determine how well patient portals and health IT activate patients in their care, according to a report in the Journal of Medical Internet Research....

Exploring Patients’ Roles in Chronic Illness Care Coordination

by Sara Heath

Strong care coordination is one of the core necessities for effective chronic disease management. Patients managing a chronic illness are confronted with a plethora of health information, often coming from multiple different specialists and primary...

Limited Adoption Limits Patient Portal Decision Aid Efficacy

by Sara Heath

Patient portals and other health IT can effectively host decision aids for patients, if only they and their clinicians adopt the tools, according to a study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. Having adequate patient decision-making tools...

OpenNotes Honored for Driving Patient Health Data Access

by Sara Heath

The OpenNotes team has been recognized for its work in supporting patient health data access, being presented with the Health Data Liberator Award from AcademyHealth at this year’s Health Datapalooza. Led by co-founders Tom Delbanco, MD,...

Personal Patient Portal Messages Can Support Self-Management

by Sara Heath

Patient portals and personal health IT devices are effective for pushing individualized self-management information to patients, according to a study published in the journal eGEMS. Adriana Arcia, study author and researcher at the Columbia University...

Most Read Stories

Upcoming Webcasts

Continue to site...