Why Should Healthcare Providers Use Patient Portal Software?

A patient portal offers secure, convenient 24/7 online web access to patients and healthcare professionals to view personal health information from anywhere using an internet connection, such as:

Recent doctor visits

Discharge summaries

Medications

Immunization details

Allergy information

Lab results

Scheduling - appointment booking

Some patient portals can also allow the following:

Send secure messages to doctors

Request prescription refills

Schedule non-urgent appointments

Update contact information

Make payments

The goal of a patient portal is to enhance the interaction between patients and their doctors. Patient portals make many tasks easier and quicker, enabling patients to communicate with healthcare providers actively. Such portals can be web-based, computer-based, or cloud-based, giving a unified view of patient management, patient and doctor appointments, billing, and much more.

Benefits of patient portals

Customer-centric approach - A patient portal shows a patient-centric approach currently driving the medical industry. With access to such a portal, patients can have easy and secure access to their healthcare information, reducing the burden on the staff and allowing the healthcare professionals and the institution to see more patients efficiently.

Enhanced workflow - Operational workflow becomes faster and more efficient with patient portal software. Allowing patients to book routine appointments will enable hospitals to engage the staff for more urgent appointments and helps in more efficient resource planning.

Promoting telemedicine - Patient portal software allows patients and healthcare professionals to communicate through the software or mobile app. This makes it easier for elderly patients to take professional medical advice without going to the hospital for routine queries and frees up the doctor's time. Online prescription, appointments and payment systems further enhance customer experience.

Error elimination - Errors can cause a great deal of harm to a patient's health or the hospital. Since the administrative department of a hospital manages many tasks and handles the continuous flow of information, an automated patient portal software system can help mitigate errors.

Streamline collaborative patient care - Using hospital management software makes it easier for healthcare professionals to store, share and view patients' records in a coordinated way. Doctors can take a holistic view of the patient's past illnesses and diagnoses. Using this information helps engage with the patient in an all-inclusive manner.

Better revenue management - The patient portal software helps track financial transactions and record keeping. It enables the finance department to track revenue, outflow, billing, and more. Since all the departments are linked and details are updated in real-time, billing becomes simple and accurate. It can help calculate the expenses, costs, revenue etc.

Uniqueness - Each healthcare organization is different in its functional areas, speciation, patient care, and use of technologies and methodologies. Off-the-shelf software may not meet the requirements. It is beneficial for each healthcare organization to develop its software and take advantage of the software's uniqueness.

Patient portal software is now widespread, with varying features and functionalities. Some of the features that any custom-developed software should have are:

Login & registration - The essential requirement of patient portal software is the registration process for a patient. Registration should be simple and easy – via email address, phone number, and password. It should have login access for registered patients. Once registered, the customer panel will include information like name, email id, mobile number etc. This can save time and effort for the hospital staff, reduce errors, actively involve patients and increase patient flow.

User interface - The user interface has to be easy to navigate and use for the patients.

Messaging - The portal should provide securely encrypted messaging between the patient, doctor, or healthcare professional. This is critical to ensure privacy and safeguard personal information.

API integration - The application programming interface allows connecting the software with third-party health devices. It would include glucometers, pulse oximeters, personal fitness monitors etc.

Push notifications - Patients get notified about their registration, upcoming appointments, prescription refills, lab results etc.

Payment - Easy payment options ensure that users can make a hassle-free payment using options like a credit or debit card, online payments, payment wallets etc. An opportunity to pay in cash must also be available.

In conclusion, a patient portal software system is essential for all healthcare facilities, helping streamline daily activities and providing centralized, real-time secure data systems. It optimizes and digitizes hospital operations and activities which helps in enhancing patient care, reducing expenses, and streamlining records. Developing customized software packages using a healthcare custom software development company can help elevate the pace of medical development, provide data security, provide advanced recovery systems, and promotes the healthcare standard.

Olivia Johnson is a technical writer, love to share stuffs related to technology & development.