Patient Portals Promote Patient Engagement and Adherence in Patient Support Programs

Daniel Yeboah
Sep 3, 2018 · 4 min read

A Brief Overview of Patient Portals

Patient portals are increasingly becoming an essential tool for improving the overall patient experience while making healthcare organizations and Pharma firms more efficient at what they do. A patient portal is a secure platform where healthcare providers and patients can access information and have a two-way communication.

Through patient portals, patients can have access to notifications about their laboratory test results, appointment summaries, discharge reports, prescription renewals, electronic payments, one-on-one online communication with providers, and/or other account updates.

Why Healthcare Providers and Pharma Should Promote the Use of Patient Portals

Patient portals are efficient systems for two-way communication between providers and patients. As the shift from traditional healthcare leans more toward patient-centric healthcare, patient portals are serving as a tool of patient empowerment.

While the idea of patient portals is superb, not all patients adopt them. Therefore, it is necessary for healthcare providers and Pharma firms to find ways to promote the use of patient portals. Patient portals should be actively promoted because of the following benefits:

Patient Portals Allow Patients to Check Updates in Real-Time.

Patients feel more empowered when their health data can be viewed in real-time. Providers can use patient portals to create more value by going beyond using portals for basic needs such as viewing medical history or records. Patients should be able to check portals for real-time lab results or changes to their account information.

Patient Portals Provide On-Going Patient-Specific Health Education

Patients can only learn so much during the short time allotted for doctors’ appointments. Patient portals provide 24/7 access to clinically-relevant information. Apart from detailed clinical summaries from each visit to a physician, many patient portals are also providing links to educational materials tailored specifically to each patient’s health. This, of course, leads to patient empowerment as the patient gets more knowledge about his or her health and about ways to go about being proactive and preventing future medical disorders.

Patient Portals Provide Secure Ways for Providers to Communicate With Patients and Vice-Versa

After an appointment, healthcare providers can use patient portals to provide additional information that was not discussed during an appointment. Patients can then sign into the patient portal to read this message and respond back with a confirmation or any questions they may have.

Therefore, patient portals encourage patient engagement and adherence by providing direct access to healthcare providers through a secure messaging system. This option of on-going access can also strengthen the provider-patient bond and prevent patients from switching providers. According to David Clain, Manager at athenaResearch, patients who maintain conversations with their providers outside the office feel their providers are committed to their health.

Why do Patient Portals Enhance PSPs?

Patient Support Programs provide on-going support to patients after treatment or medication. Patient portals support the initiatives of PSPs by creating an avenue for collaborative teams to help patients improve their health.

The aim of PSPs is to create a community-driven healthcare that is patient-centric. Patient portals provide an avenue for PSPs of healthcare organizations and Pharma firms to build an online community. An online community can be built by providing a link within patient portals to a platform where patients can interact with each other and also with their providers. By creating an online community, patient portals can pave the way for collaborative partnerships between relevant people in the community who are enthusiastic about health, for example public health officials, healthcare practitioners, and Pharma firms.

Patient Portals Enable PSPs to Connect Patients to Reimbursement Programs and Other Available Resources

Many patients have no clue about their options for coverage or insurance. PSPs guide patients in choosing the right reimbursement program. PSPs help patients take control of their health by eliminating the fear of ineligibility. Patient portals support PSPs by creating a way for PSPs to communicate reimbursement options to patients.

Additionally, patients are often unaware that they have so many resources that are only a click away, such as transportation, clinical/nurse support, patient advocacy programs, and even nutritional supplement programs. In-between doctors’ appointments, patients can still be taken care of by professionals available to them if they are enrolled in the right programs. Patient portals can enhance PSPs by providing a way for PSPs to educate patients on these resources available to them.

Two Major Key Strategies for PSPs to Promote and Maintain Patient Engagement and Adherence

  1. Make It User-Friendly. With technological advances today, patients expect 24/7 online access and want to use apps on the go. It has been a challenge to create user-friendly patient portals that patients can access easily. Patients also expect to have their healthcare providers at the tips of their fingers. One major on-going strategy for PSPs to promote and maintain patient engagement and adherence should be to make the available technology very user-friendly in order to bring patients one step closer to resolving their health issues.

2. Update Information on the FlyPatients will be more engaged with their health if they receive updates as soon as it happens. Today, there are so many distractions to the average person and it certainly helps to receive notifications about health updates via technology tools such as patient portals.

There is a clear need and value to patient portals, especially in the domain of PSP’s. This presents an opportunity for PSP providers to provided added value both patients and Pharma companies in which they serve.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade