Giving patients access to their health record online has proven to improve health outcomes and save clinicians time. The Intrahealth software solution and patient portal provides the opportunity for patients to truly engage in their health care and with their care team facilitating stronger communications, patient satisfaction and saving clinical time. The real time web portals link patients, health care providers, and external third parties in a secure environment and in real time.
The Challenge
Placing the responsibility for health care delivery solely upon the health care provider is inefficient and contributes to rising administrative overhead costs. Important and time-sensitive communications between patients, practitioners, laboratories, and pharmacists can become complicated and incur delays which may adversely impact patient health outcomes. It makes sense to engage patients as active participating members of the care team which contributes significantly to optimized health care delivery.
The Solution
The healthcare provider can launch the software solution and configure it so that their patients can self-serve and participate in health care plans. Administrators can control what patients can and cannot see and do in the application. It is a configurable platform designed to meet the unique needs of clinical practices. The application can be configured to allow all or none of the menu options including:
- Retrieve personal medical information
- Book, change, cancel, or confirm pending appointments
- Review recalls, see upcoming recalls, read the reason for a recall, make an appointment for a recall
- Request prescription refills and check the status of the request
- Undertake self-assessments that are reviewed by a clinical rule and escalated if necessary
- Check laboratory results, graph them, seek an interpretation using a clinical rule agreed by health providers
- Send observations such as vitals measurements
- Review lists of health problems, get more information, and be routed to health system-approved web sites for additional details
- Update personal information
Quote
“I have been using Intrahealth’s software solution since it first became available to us almost a decade ago. The platform is an indispensable part our clinic and has saved us countless hours of staff time on the phone (booking appointments and requesting results or refills of prescriptions). It forms an integral part of our practice that allows patients to review results as well as the doctor’s annotations, saving patients a visit.” Dr Bredenkamp
The Benefit
The expected benefit or outcome of engaging patients actively in their own health care is simply better care delivery. People are experts on themselves and appreciate informed independence and want to participate in developing their own care plans. With this collaborative approach to health care by doctors and patients, medical issues may be discovered, treated, and resolved much more quickly.
The Result
Research demonstrates that when patients are able to see their own health records they have a sense of ownership and are more willing to interact with their health care providers. Health practitioners can be more effective through enabling patients to control a number of functions themselves such as requesting repeat prescriptions, entering results and forms before coming to see the providers.
“My patients have found the ability to communicate with me, via the secure portal, extremely helpful when they are travelling as well as the ability to print essential information from their charts. The platform is saving the clinic a substantial amount of money in staff hours and has increased my ability in providing complete care for my patients.“ Dr. A. Bredenkamp MB. ChB., LMCC, CCFP, Hilltop Medical Clinic, White Rock, BC
