The ability for patients to access their medical records on their smart devices at anytime has become the norm after the 21^st Century Cures Act was passed in 2016. For years, there was a concern of patients being able to view their results prior to the ordering clinician, leading to the possibility of putting the patient in distress if their results were abnormal.

A recent study published in the JAMA Network, an open access medical journal created by the American Medical Association, had 8,000 patients that accessed their test results in an online portal and found that more than 95% wanted to continue to receive their results via a patient portal, no matter if those results were normal or abnormal.

If you’re a medical care provider and believe the provider-patient relationship is of the utmost importance, implementing an online patient portal at your practice is a great benefit for you and your patients. At Criterions, we provide our customers with the necessary tools to build those relationships with your patients, with the Criterions Patient Portal at the top of the list.

Criterions Patient Portal features and benefits include:

• Online patient scheduler: Patient’s can schedule their own appointments online versus calling the office to do so, saving your staff time with phone calls and voicemails. This also optimizes your calendar capacity at your practice by showing patients real-time availability.
• Online payments: Patients have the ability to pay their bills in the patient portal, providing them an additional convenient payment option.
• Patient insurance information & demographics: Patients can input or update their insurance and personal information prior to their visit, saving time with the check-in and check-out process.
• Prescription and Pharmacy Information: If ordering your patients any medication, they have the option of providing pharmacy information and checking the status of their prescription order on their own time.
• Patient Medical Profile display: Patients can easily and quickly access test results, view their visit summary, check their medications, and more. This gives complete healthcare tranparency between you and your patient.
• Direct Messaging patients: Send your patient’s direct messages within the portal of important practice updates and information, send appointment reminders, and verify information prior to their visit.
• Patient pre-visit documentation: You can send your patients pre-visit documents like consent forms and questionnaires before they step foot in your office. Your patients will spend less time in your waiting room and more time with their provider!

The Criterions online Patient Portal gives your patients instant access to their medical records, provides your patients autonomy and transparency over their health information, reduces your staff’s workload to focus on tasks that help increase office efficiency, and gives your patients an another payment option to increase revenue.

If you would like to implement the Criterions Patient Portal at your practice, please contact our Sales Department at Sales@criterions.com or fill out the form below to get started.

Article Resources:

https://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/information-blocking/new-study-shows-patients-prefer-immediate-access-to-test-results-and-have-unmet-information-needs

https://www.healthit.gov/buzz-blog/information-blocking/new-study-shows-patients-prefer-immediate-access-to-test-results-and-have-unmet-information-needs

What is interoperability?

Interoperability for EHRs is an important aspect of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery. Interoperability refers to the ability of different EHR systems to exchange and use patient health information (PHI) with each other seamlessly, regardless of the vendor or system used. When EHR systems are interoperable, healthcare providers can access complete and accurate patient information in real-time, which can help improve clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

Interoperability for EHRs involves several key approaches, including:

1. Adopting standardized data formats: EHR systems must use standardized data formats and codes to ensure that information can be easily shared between systems. Examples of these standards include SNOMED CT, LOINC, and HL7.

2. Implementing health information exchange (HIE): HIE is a secure electronic system that allows healthcare providers to exchange PHI across different EHR systems. Implementing HIE can help improve care coordination and reduce duplication of services. Criterions Software has implemented secure exchange of patient data with Healthix to improve the quality and efficiency of care.

3. Encouraging EHR system vendors to promote interoperability: EHR vendors must play a role in promoting interoperability by building interfaces and features that support data sharing and exchange. Criterions Software has an ever-increasing list of Labs, Imaging Groups, and Public Health organizations to which you can connect your Criterions EHR.

4. Addressing privacy and security concerns: Interoperability must be balanced with patient privacy and security concerns. Measures such as encryption, authentication, and access controls should be in place to protect PHI. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a feature in the Criterions EHR application. When utilized, it adds a layer of protection to the sign-in process while accessing the application.

5. Incentivizing interoperability: Governments and healthcare organizations can incentivize interoperability by offering financial or other benefits to healthcare providers who demonstrate interoperability. This can encourage more providers to adopt EHR systems that are interoperable.

Interoperability for EHRs can be a complex process, but it is essential for improving healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. It involves adopting standardized data formats, implementing health information exchange, encouraging EHR vendors to promote interoperability, addressing privacy and security concerns, establishing data governance policies and, incentivizing interoperability. By taking these steps, Criterions Software has enabled healthcare providers to ensure that patient information is easily accessible, accurate, and secure, which can lead to better clinical decision-making and improved patient outcomes.

For more information on Criterions EHR solution, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch shortly!