The push to improve communication between patients and healthcare providers has one integrated delivery network (IDN) moving forward with a plan to develop a single portal solution for its acute and ambulatory care facilities.
St. Bernards Healthcare, located in northeastern Arkansas, announced plans to integrate an enterprise patient portal from InteliChart with its Meditech electronic health record (EHR) system. The goal is to create a portal to provide patients with direct online access to their medical records, including test results, medications, visit summaries and discharge instructions.
“Having a consistent brand and patient experience across all of our ambulatory practices and hospitals is significant in shepherding our patients to actively engage in their healthcare,” said Chris B. Barber, St. Bernards Healthcare president and chief executive officer. “Furthermore, being able to share an aggregated clinical dataset with a patient and his or her entire care team will lead us towards our goals in optimizing our patient health outcomes.”
Patient portal adoption and use is growing in the United States, driven by Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements, which began in October 2013 for hospitals and January 2014 for physicians. The U.S. patient portal market is expected to reach $898.4 million by 2017, up from $279.8 million in 2012 – a 221 percent increase, according to research from Frost & Sullivan.
"The need to fully engage patients as a member of the care team is fundamentally about encouraging individuals to become more involved with their healthcare, so they will be motivated to make behavioral changes that can positively impact their health status," said Nancy Fabozzi, Frost & Sullivan connected health principal analyst. "That need will only grow as the healthcare system moves towards accountable care and value-based reimbursement."
In addition to patient information, St. Bernards Healthcare’s portal also will enable patients to update their healthcare information and communicate directly with their care team. Other features include the ability to refill prescriptions, schedule appointments and pay bills.
“Our technology brings the convenience of a single portal solution to engage patients in their healthcare received in both acute and ambulatory settings, while providing the infrastructure for physician practices, hospitals, and healthcare systems to share data across a single platform,” said Gary Hamilton, CEO of InteliChart.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
