The Increasing Importance of Patient Portals

With 2014 marking the first year that Meaningful Use Stage 2 takes effect for some practices, discussions about patient portals and online access to electronic health information—just some of the core objectives required through Stage 2—continue to attract significant attention. Such was the case at this year’s American Urological Association Practice Management Conference, where the talk “Adopting an Effective Patient Portal” was featured as one of the key general session presentations.

During his presentation, Jeffery Daigrepont, EFPM, Senior Vice President at Coker Group, noted that patient portals serve as an important part of practice–patient communication. He advised those who are preparing to implement a portal to take into consideration financial as well as regulatory factors, not just because of Meaningful Use requirements, but also because studies have shown that patients with online access tend to schedule more visits and are more likely to pay their bills.

“The studies we’ve done on patient portals tell us they do a remarkable job at improving collections,” said Mr Daigrepont. “If you can integrate it with a kiosk, that kiosk will never call in sick. The kiosk works because the portal can actually be there in the waiting room to check in the patient and ask for a copayment.”

“If I’m at home and I want to see a printout of my statement, or if I want to pay online, I can do that,” he continued. “Any time you can make it convenient and easy for people to pay online, they’ll do it.”

Practices should determine the purpose of the portal, he said, such as whether it is a mechanism to facilitate scheduling appointments, or if there will be a back-and-forth exchange of information. Those implementing a portal should put appropriate checks and balances in place to maintain security and address user concerns.

Mr Daigrepont also suggested that prior to finalizing a vendor contract for a patient portal, practices should insist on adding a clause that states the practice is not financially responsible for the portal until it is adopted by patients. This requires the vendor to partner with the practice in marketing and promoting the site. Otherwise, he stated, “you are paying for something before it is even adopted.”

Other suggestions include:

  • Compose a request for proposal outlining what you are asking for and need
  • Include acceptance criteria that sets out exactly what has to happen before you start paying the vendor
  • Hold the vendor responsible for training your staff
  • Spread out the payment; Mr Daigrepont suggests 20% at signing, and similar payments after successful downloading and system testing, after successful staff training, after the system goes live, and the last 20% 30 days to 45 days after going live, ensuring there are no bugs
  • Confirm that licenses are transferrable so that the portal may be transferred to a new owner, and the value of the practice is not diminished if you sell it
    Demand a perpetual license so you are only paying for actual usage
  • If the vendor is not willing to give you the title to future releases and new versions, this should be considered a deal breaker; some vendors sell a license, discontinue the product, and sell you a new license
  • Ensure that the vendor cannot disable your system immediately at termination.

“Vendors have become more competitive and are usually willing to give more concessions and be flexible in terms,” said Mr Daigrepont. “Those who are thinking they already signed their contract and it is too late; it isn’t. Every year you have to renew, and that is a perfect opportunity to tighten up a few things.”

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