Patient portals promise efficiency and convenience, a solid way for healthcare professional to communicate, and a gateway for patients to follow their own medical history. Patient portals have become much more commonplace under the Meaningful Use Incentive Program, which breaks patient engagement into two stages. Stage 1 requires providers offer electronic copies of test results, discharge summaries, and the like when the patient requests it. Stage 2 goes further by requiring physicians offer online access of medical records to more than 50 percent of unique patients seen by clinicians. The most efficient way to do this is through the patient portal. But even as the convenience of patient portals makes it clear that they are a step forward for patient and physician, privacy concerns threaten to overshadow the convenience that the portals provide. By Shannon Lee …read more
