Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Patient Portal

Just wanted to let people know that I have been using in the past few months PracticomPHR (a patient portal which works great with my Amazing Charts system) and I am really happy I did it. After upgrading to AC ver 6 there is even an easier and more integrated interface similar to my lab interface.

It is easy to use and patients like it. It is also easy for my staff to contact patients and helps with our office efficiency. The Company is amazingly helpful, resourceful, and it is simple to get someone on the phone...I have even been able to get people on phone from the Company on the weekends.

I highly recommend people sign up for PracticomPHR. Its also free and there are no hidden costs.

Feel free to message me if you have questions but really like the system as it is easy to get information out to patients in a safe secure way. I have nothing but praise for this company. For disclosure purposes, I have no financial ties with this company.

Their website is www.practicom.com.

Feel free to chime in a constructive discussion.

Boris

I also have been using this - initial idea was put out by Jon B. a few years ago with the idea of the pt. paying some nominal fee for the service. It is a great idea.

I have been slowly getting my patients introduced to the idea with electronic media in the office and just this week the company put out a letter to all my active patients and linked a microsite on the net with the same video and ability to sign up online.

The company is much like Amazing Charts in that you can talk with the CEO and discuss options and they are responsive and trying to make the service better.

Can either of you tell us how this compares to the Updox portal?

Curious about their business model>

-how do they make money if practices/patients/anybody does not have to pay?

-will it be free today, practices sign up/then in future, start charging to support their ongoing expenses? Tough question: bait and sign up free, then charge?

-do patients start getting spam from whoever portal company associates with because now the company has access to patients diagnoses/medicines?

Jon
i also have been using updox for the past 1 year
it is only great for me for sending referral letters out from AC
its very simple - just print to updox printer and my front office then forwards it within Rolodex to referring doctor
their portal system is simply not user friendly and not easy to use and not well integrated with AC - therefore not practical to use
moreover, updox does get expensive since they charge you per page and not per fax - it therefore can get very expensive, so watch out

joseph2
there is NO hidden cost in this portal
the patient pays $40 per year for this service and it works seamlessly with AC - easy to use just like AC
moreover 40 bucks is like a copay to a pt for a whole year

In 2 of my hospitals that i operate at they have instituted a new electronic records system even for writing orders and it is the worst most cumbersome system i have ever seen
I like simplicity and AC is simple to use, updox works easy for referral letters and importing fax documents and Practicom PHR patient portal works easy with AC, and my Quest Lab interface is easy to use
those are just my recommendations
Boris

Thank you Dr. Klopukh.

My experience is that Practicom truly provides a real patient portal with a graphical user interface - I have been talking with them about some changes as both they and I feel it will be even better if pt can type in blood sugar logs or bp logs and be able to send the log to the office - they are also working on a way to get previous vitals to transfer from AC to the portal - can't do right now as the CCD provided by AC does not have as much information as it can have - I have faith they will continue to work on this as they have the same philosophy as AC and intend on continuing to refine to make the PHR better.

How is this interfaced wiht AC? I don't see it on the list, so I'm interested in how they work together.

Currently you send CCD after each visit - they have also developed an uplink program which lets you just pull charts out of imported items and send them for labs in PDF, EKGs, etc. A new version of their uplink program is supposed to come out this week with more features - their programmers are working on making the e-mail automation from within AC to the portal more seamless - they have been quick to work on issues I have discussed with them and feel it will be even more integrated as soon as they can get the programming done.

If you look under HIE interfaces you will find Practicom PHR but I have discussed and it is not completely done per our discussion.

Oh, HIE interfaces. Ok, I'll look there. So, how much does the interaface cost. Or is it the "approximate usual". or around#250.

Wayne
it costs you nothing (i forgot, i had to pay $1 thats correct one dollar for the interface - just go to admin options and see it there under interfaces)
as a matter of fact you make some money with it
simple cost structure - $40/year for the patient and you get to keep half of that
i dont do it for the money but for the ease and convenience
i am also going to implement recurrent and important follow up reminders thru email system to the pt that is automated - by the way all HIPAA compliant
hope that answers your question

$1!! My goodness! That's usury! They can't charge that much!! I mean, a whole dollar!

I'll have to look at it. We do alot of things through a hodge-podge of different services. No one offers a nice package that does everything for a reasonable price. Maybe I should make one myself.

I just started playing with Updox, and it does have some neat features. However, I'm just not sure it is worth the extra hassle factor beyond what my Brother MFC does... especially if the portal is not worthwhile.

We been using RelayHealth for a few years for the portal. It seemed to be quite cost effective for us, and could potentially bring in revenue via online consultations. Alas, it hasn't been as effective as I wished.

1)The secure messaging is fine. We use this to message patients and send their labs to them. We have a basic usage package and don't have all of the extras, because each costs an additional fee. I haven't spoken with them lately on the additional fees, so i cant answer any questions about that.

2) RH was new when we signed up, so we got eRx for no charge. If you sign up now, eRx does not come in the basic package, unless they added it and just raised the price. Now we have eRx free through AC, so it is redundant,and we don't have to sign onto a separate system to send them. So we have stopped using the eRx on RelayHealth.

3)We don't use the appointment request feature of RelayHealth anymore. Alot of these portals use this methodolgy, including apparently practicom. Patients send a request in for an appointment(w/ 3 options as times they would like). We look and see if it is available, and if so book them. Then send a message back telling them the time and date of the appointment. Or if none of their choices was available, we tell them. This is simply Ludicrous! Its as much work as just taking the phone call. I, and many others, are willing to pay extra to have a true online schedule, like with AppointmentQuest. I suggested that RH try this, and that we'd pay $X extra to have this and that others probably would too. Alot of doctors use Appointment Quest or something similar. And dont even talk about Zocdoc, which may be able to be imported into Appointment Quest. So I wish these portals would make a scheduler like this and just charge an extra fee for it. It won't cost us anymore than currently, and it would be integrated with the whole portal.

4)Looking at what practicom does, I sure wish they'd add an internet fax serice and true online schedule. Heck, they could even make the scheduler and fax a "modular, value-added add-on" with an appropriate price. They'd have a comprehensive offering.

5) Online consultations just haven't taken off. It was supposed to at least pay for our RelayHealth cost so the system would be essentially free, but it hasn't worked out that we. We get less than than 10 per year.

We're getting less usablity out of RelayHealth since we dont use the silly appointment request system, and now we can eRx directly from our emr (AC) though its not as good a eRx system, it still basically gets the job done. So I'm looking at less expensive options for the other uses, and hope I can find a more cost-effective system to do the thing I want to do.

Boris, if a patient has an appointment, AppointmentQuest will send them a reminder. But... I have no automated way to send a reminder if they don't already have an appointment. Or an reminder that says "Time for your annual mammogram."

One thing that you cannot UNDERESTIMATE about implementing a patient portal is the time and effort it takes to train the patients.

There will be a range of responses - from patients who don't have/want a computer, to users who are opening the initial email in the waiting room after they have checked in but aren't roomed yet.

NBHC went with Updox, and has implemented several forms on the portal so that we are steering all of our communication through Updox. Also trying to get out of the mode of doing medicine over the phone; if the patient wants to talk with the provider - we do that in the exam room where the provider has the time, tools, and setting to treat the patient.

Say learning curve.

Boy, Indy, no kidding.

We use the UpDox portal for relaying test results and brief discussions. Before going electronic, we had used a phone based service, where we would leave voice messages for patients to pick up. Transitioning a patient to the portal, we start with a VERY explicit handout, complete with screen shots, telling patients how to use it. Two staff members are trained to do tech support, and they get 3-5 calls a day, even after using it for a year and a half (and we have a very stable patient population). It is not that the portal is hard... I have more problems using iTunes.... but there is some patient resistance to having to take responsibility on their own behalf (think "spoiled"). Some patients don't have computers or e-mail. We offer them appointments to discuss the issues for which we otherwise use the portal. As I said in another post, going electronic has our own plates sufficiently full of challenges that I am unable/unwilling to shoulder guilt that our patients have new challenges as well. "The folks you voted into office are making us do this; if we suffer, you suffer."

A portal for scheduling is a very attractive thought (my dentist uses it, and it is very handy), but I sure would like to see our current system working flawlessly before adding another complication.

Indy, you have a good point. It took us awhile to get patiensts to use the system we have, and it was 1) offered at no cost to them, 2) they are generally young, educated professionals who use PCs all the time. I actually had one guy ask me to discuss with him what was in it for him to sign up for this. yeah, I blew him off, and when he called asking how to get a copy of his lab results, I told him to sign up, its frelling FREE, and we will send them to him. There is worse, but I don't want to get wound up.

We stopped medicine over the phone a long time ago, but we definitely "broke some eggs to make the omelet." Requests to discuss medical issues with the doctor require an office visit where she can set aside appropriate time to give you and your questions the time they deserve. Yes, you'll have to pay your copay, but that's your insurance company's rule. If it is inconvenient to come in just for that question, you can request a webVisit through the patient portal. Yes, there is a fee involved.

David - thanks for adding-in.

I may have been typically recovering-engineer obtuse. At both a personal and professional level I believe that going to the patient portal is both what is best for patient care and a better functioning practice. I am on a mission to bring an end to providers staying an hour or two after closing because they have a long list of patient calls; I call that poor provider care.

So, choosing and implementing a practice portal is the easy part, training patients is where folks will need to concentrate their efforts.

Oh, and BTW, iTunes is one of the most ill-begotten software spawns Apple has *ever* issued (IMHO). A patient portal is *far* easier to use. The new Music.google is rocks in comparison - although to push our entire library of ~6200 tracks took a while.

Gee, that's odd about iTunes. Because all the iTunes users seem to want to insist I walk them through how to send a request for lab results on the portal. Its basically an email system for crying out loud.

Oh, I dont have an iPod or anything, so I've never really seen it.

Wayne - one of the things that has come into much clearer focus for me over the last two years is how ill-served providers and practices are by some of their vendors. Although it started out as helping a single practice once I saw what their own IPA was trying to foist off on them, I have become 'hooked' on what I call provider care (for lack of a better term).

Having talked with several folks @ ACUC this year, it is time we actually announce what we have formulated for providers, but because that isn't why I wander the boards at random times, I'll ask Bert to do the vetting of the post. Separate subject.

iTunes is getting better, but it is a glaring example of poor interface design compared to most Apple software. Again, a rant that is off-topic.

To say it this way be more effective in communicating with patients - "If you can use iTunes, you will find the patient portal waaay easier girl/dude!"

LOL. I may use that line.

Wonder if PHR will ever take off. Google is ending its PHR quest. Per report:

PHR relies most heavily on individual motivation and efforts. They are controlled by the consumer, and require individuals ....... their health data.

7% of consumers had tried online personal health records, and fewer than half of those continued to use them.

Sometimes I think Jon is right in designing AC so doctors do not pay for this new portal for AC, but make patients pay (though sometimes I think if doctors using AC paid some REASONABLE MAINTENANCE fee, maybe more patients may use it/or in our geriatric patients, their family would access the parents records. When other practices in our town give it free to their patients sometimes I think we may be at a professional disadvantage- and I am ready to pay as above). Analogy: I believe all banks now give the portal access free to personal accounts, maybe not for business accounts.

I am not sure if Portal would be mandatory in phase 2 of MU requirements. (Vaguely remember a collegue talking about it, but I have not looked into that). If it is mandatory then ofcourse......

Food for thought for different pay model so patients do not have to pay.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/technology/25health.html?_r=1&hpw

I am using the Updox patient portal w/ good results. It has eliminated phone calls. It is easier to provide results for those who have always wanted copies of them. I still get to choose what info the pt is sent. I am hoping that the PHR does not give them access to their full chart. That still makes me leery.

I agree totally, Catherine. If I think a patient's issues are primarily anxiety , I WILL discuss it with them, but not until after several visits where I can show I am taking them seriously. If they got a look at my first note too soon, it would blow my plan out of the water, and I need thorough and totally unredacted notes to remind myself what I was really thinking. ( hence also my anti-template stance.. I need all the help I can get.....)

The PHR currently allows the pt. to see Meds, Allergies, Diagnoses (past and current), THEY are working on vitals, and other information.

The best thing about the PHR is the pt. communication.

Steven:

If 10-20 pts log in at the same time to view their imported items, does it slow down the server/in office use by doctor/staff?

They are not logged into your system. You upload to the PHR which is where the cost for the pt is-practicom provides the infrastructure for all the data.

Is anyone here using Practicom? This thread popped into my mind today, and I am just wonder how the response is to this idea--especially with the patient paying.

Does anyone know if the PracticomPHR is still around? When I try to go to their webage, it goes to mdlive.com now. I had tried to set up with them but things never seemed to get off the ground. Now I'm trying to decide if I should try and work in the Updox portal or look around for a new patient portal.

Wow. I tried too. All I get is that MDLIve and the WillipaFamilyMedicine. Methinks theybe noexistnow.

Practicom was absorbed and now under the name MDLive - who offers other services. They have had a bit of trouble getting customer service straight to my satisfaction, but are functioning and seem intent on continuing practioom and improving it. You should call and ask for the practicom rep. I hope that it does continue - ironically the reason you find Willapa Family Medicine is that my portal under them comes up in google searches.

This is currently the only portal other than updox that is even partially integrated with AC.

Take care.