Personally,
most of us know of situations where friends or family have been frustrated by
not knowing their personal health information at some critical time. In August,
Margaret Mary Health implemented HealthConnect, a web-based patient portal
system designed to engage patients in their health care through direct access
to a complete and timely medical record. This portal pushes not only their
information from Margaret Mary Health, but can also include data from other
health care providers, when the provider allows, through multiple health care
information exchanges. The benefits from the patients’ perspective are
tremendous, especially for patients and family who wish to be fully engaged and
knowledgeable about the care they receive.
The
implementation of patient portals has recently become a topic of interest among
health care leaders. Now that most of the health information has transitioned
from a paper chart to an electronic record, it is possible to make the
information readily accessible to the patient. The challenges that exist are
not technical in nature; they are related to the organization's willingness to
release the data. Questions arise such as:
- Should
we allow the patient to see their test results before their physician has a
chance to review it?
- Can
we use the portal as a way to encourage use of only our services?
At
Margaret Mary Health, we struggled with these questions. After much debate, we decided
that to fulfill our mission , the portal would
need to be patient centric. To this end, the data flows as unfettered as
possible and from wherever patients receive services.
As
a small community hospital, we have realized for some time that we cannot offer
the full range of comprehensive care for many of our patients. To provide
complete access to their record, we must convince other providers to share
information through a health information exchange. Some providers have joined
and their data is combined with ours and now flows directly to the patient
through the portal. Unfortunately, some providers are reluctant to allow
patients to have this type of access without substantial delays or other
approval restrictions.
For
years we have wanted patients to be more engaged in their health, lead healthy
lifestyles and take ownership of their health issues. Implementing a complete
electronic portal is an outstanding opportunity for us to take a huge step
toward this reality to engage patients in their health and outcomes.
As
an industry, we have the opportunity to develop a robust tool for patients to
have access to their complete medical record. We must get past the mindset that
patient information is proprietary to our facility or that the patients are
unable to comprehend their test results. If we are able to provide this type of
access, we will move further toward the goal of patient engagement and personal
health responsibility.
