www. Char l es tonPhys i c i ans . com | www.Hea l thL i nksChar l es ton . com | 75 “Time management can be an issue when you’re a senior yourself and caring for a parent. Being able to communicate through electronic means helped us avoid unnecessary travel or visits to the office,” Bruce said. “If I had a question about her care that didn’t require a face-to-face visit, I could send a message via the portal and someone from her team would get back to me within a day or two.” That speedy feedback is precisely what Infinger and his team strive for. Assisting senior citizens who are reluctant to fire up a computer and learn something new is another favorite niche for Infinger and his team. Shirley Ogle, 71, of Smoaks, South Carolina, and her husband, Frank, moved to the Lowcountry 20 years ago to open a bed and breakfast. While being in the country has its perks, one of the challenges is the distance between their small-town home and big city health care. The availability of patient portals has come as a relief to Ogle. Historically, she has been deeply involved in her own health care, right down to asking what brand of materials were to be used in her knee replacement surgery. Always vigilant, Ogle enjoys the participatory aspect of the portals. Seeing her lab work and comparing trends across her visits gives her a sense of control. “I’m able to get the most out of my oncologist. I used to have to request a printed report after every visit and go pick it up,” Ogle said. “With the portal, I no longer bother an administrative person to make copies for me. When lab reports are ready, I can just look down at my phone and see the results.” Ogle’s husband is a triple-degreed engineer, and, while he is technically savvy, he has no patience for even the speediest of portals. “He’s in perpetual motion. Getting him to stand still to engage with an app or portal is next to impossible,” Ogle said, so the duty falls to her. “Even if he and I have appointments in different places on the same day, I log into his account or have his check-in link sent to me and voila! I check in for him while I’m in the waiting room for my own appointment.” Bruce admitted that she understands from a corporate and IT perspective that delivering her “fully-loaded dream portal” might pose a challenge, but, as both she and Ogle have experienced, the development of patient portals is ever evolving. … and improving. “When I first started using it, the interface was kind of cumbersome,” Ogle stated. “But the second iteration of the portal ran much more smoothly. I’m glad they moved away from tedious interfaces, because we, as seniors, value our time. I want the information quickly so I can get on with my life. I don’t want to have to go through three or four things to get to my information every single time I log in,” she mused. “I feel like they’re headed in the right direction, and I hope they evolve to the point where they’re able to provide a truly seamless experience, but I feel we still have a way to go,” Bruce said. For example, though she stays within the same health care provider system, her records aren’t always linked. “I had a visit to the ER that revealed a potentially dangerous condition. That doesn’t show up in my provider’s portal, though they operate under the same umbrella,” Bruce said. “It’s frustrating because I’d like that information to be accessible, in its entirety, in one place. If my care was spread out over various hospital groups, I could understand, but the portal would be more meaningful and more usable to me if it gave me access to everything – including paying bills – but that’s another discussion,” Bruce sighed. PATIENT PORTALS AT-A-GLANCE BENEFITS 1.Online scheduling. If you need to see a doctor, you search for an appointment and register ahead of time, including paying your co-pay so when you arrive it’s a simple in-and-out experience. 2.Communication: Patients have the ability to communicate with their care team to ask questions about a variety of things, including health concerns, prescription refills and even getting referrals to other specialists. 3.Vaccination and test result history. In today’s world, there is a large patient base that uses their patient portal to show proof of vaccination and COVID test results to be able to travel. Lots of cruises and international flights tend to require these, and having a digital way to pull them up can be a lot easier than keeping track of a piece of paper. DRAWBACKS 1. Some people don’t take change very well and refuse to sign up for the portal. 2. Some portals are weak concerning integration with all health care providers. 3. Overall, the biggest hurdle is coming up with a solution that works for those that are not tech-savvy and don’t want to learn a new system. The Solutions: Many hospitals are working on improvements to their open scheduling portal so patients don’t need to sign up for an account to have access to some of the features of the hospital’s online systems. MyChart support lines are well-staffed by compassionate people who are happy to answer even the most basic questions. Source: Corey Infinger, information solutions manager of patient access and experience for the Medical University of South Carolina.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjcyNTM1