Without a doubt, the rationale behind the inception of EMR was to improve the overall conditions of the healthcare in the US. Certainly, pointing a single, absolute, problem in the system has always been a debate for healthcare professionals; however majority of them attribute poor connectivity, both internal and external, to be one of the major reasons. While the EMR is designed to ensure better coordination amongst the healthcare professionals, both within and outside a particular institution, patient portal help in eliminating the ever existing patient-physician communication gaps.
“EMRs and patient portals have surely abated the communication barriers. I can easily recall the exasperation associated with waiting for hours to get connected to fellow physicians and even patients, these health IT applications, fortunately, have eradicated all such problems. Connectivity is just few clicks away now”, says a San Francisco based physician.
Even for the laymen, it is not difficult to comprehend that instantaneous access of patient records is of utmost important in healthcare. Where the delays in such matters could result in fatal repercussion, timely and efficient availability of information could produce prolific outcomes for both patients and physicians. As far as the results of better connectivity and instantaneous access to information are concerned, it would be better provision of healthcare, in the hour of need, for the former, while better reputation and productivity for the later. Today, EMRs allow physicians to share important information not only across the practice but also with other providers in the healthcare circle. According to statistical reports, this connectivity amongst healthcare professionals has incredulously improved the care delivery and coordination.
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After the successful release of the CMS financial incentive program, meaningful use stage 1 and 2, it is believed that the authorities have already started taking stage 3 seriously. Having understood the need for better physician-patient connectivity, the meaningful use stage 3 has significantly emphasized the importance of patient engagement by making it one of the objectives. Where EMRs were thought to be the sole abet in helping physicians acquire the financial incentives, it is believed that this time around, even patient portals could make a lot of contribution.
Since the new objectives require physicians to ensure that patients can access their health records online or download them, by far, patient portals seem to be the most definitive tool that would allow for such activity. Besides helping physicians getting hold of the incentive funds, patient portals have also help improve the overall patient care experience. The idea of staying connected with their physicians at all times has alleviated the patients from the burden of incurring superfluous costs as well as the agitation that once they had to face.
