Patient portals came around in the late 90s and early 2000s and offered tools centered around patient communication.
Patient portals allow patients to:
- Message their provider
- Make payments
- Complete forms and registration
- Book appointments
- Request prescription refills
While patient portals may save you time on redundant paperwork, they can also be inconvenient and hard to navigate.
See more: Do therapists even need a patient portal?
Pros of patient portals
Streamlined administrative tasks
Patient portals allow patients to schedule appointments, request prescription refills and automate mundane administrative tasks. This will give you more time to focus on your patient’s needs.
Patient ownership
Through patient portals, patients can view their health information 24/7 and gain a better understanding of their own care. Understanding the decisions their physicians are making empowers them to take ownership of their own health.
Adds value
The many bells and whistles a portal can add may impress new patients. They may see more value in a practice that has a patient portal that can do everything.
Cons of patient portals
Difficult to navigate
A patient portal that can do everything may be difficult to navigate. The more tools a patient portal has, the more clunky and confusing it may be. This will cause frustration with your patients and may lead to less engagement.
Additional costs
No matter what patient portal you use, there will be extra costs associated with it. If you opt for an integrated system, it will be a bit more expensive. If you use a stand-alone portal, it may be more affordable, but you will end up paying extra to establish an electronic health record (EHR) system for patient medical information.
Data Security Concern
Having a patient portal also does not mean more protection for your protected health information. Portals achieve security through multi-step password solutions and often require the user to take extra steps to ensure everything is secure.
The bottom line
Portals, for all their pros, actually friction for both patient and healthcare provider. The result of this friction can (and has) led to people taking shortcuts which, in turn, expose protected health information. While a portal might be right for your organization when it comes to sharing electronic health records, it’s not enough to stand alone. HIPAA compliant email is still a must-have when it comes to patient communication.
Related: How to send HIPAA compliant emails
How Paubox can help
With Paubox Email Suite, emails to patients are automatically encrypted making communication much easier than an email portal. The email suite works directly with your existing email and sends HIPAA compliant emails without portals and passcodes.
It’s incredibly easy not only for your practice to use but also for your patients. The email suite works on every type of device so patients can always keep in contact. There is no training and no extra steps to go through. You simply click “send” and your patients simply click “open.”
Our HITRUST CSF certified solution is the best option when communicating with patients and you can trust that each email will be secure.
Try Paubox Email Suite for FREE today.
