GCU Patient Portals Discussion
Description
please respond to the following discussion post as a peer making a comment. Patient portals are secure websites that give people access to their personal health information from anywhere, at any time. People can log on to their account to view their PHI such as lab results, immunizations, prescriptions, and appointment visit notes. Many health care organizations are now required to use internet-based applications to update their processes to meet regulatory requirements. Despite their convenient tools, there are also disadvantages to patient portals and other internet-based applications. Some examples include:
1) Getting Patients to Opt-In- It’s a disadvantage of both the provider and patient when clients decide not to use a patient portal. Patients are missing out on the potential benefits available to them. Providers also need to spend more time going over information with the patient that they could just access on the portal.
2) Security Concerns- Patient portals are just another place for hackers to attack. Since health care information is so valuable to hackers, they’ll more likely target these accounts that host so much PHI.
3) User Confusion and Anxiety- There’s always the risk of confusion when using a new online platform. Additionally, almost half of the US adult population lacks health literacy. If a user doesn’t understand the medical terms within their health records, they’ll likely get confused.
4) Alienation and Health Disparities- Alienation between patient and provider occurs for those who don’t access these tools. Sometimes, this is due to health disparities if a person doesn’t have a method for using them. Over one in six people in poverty don’t have internet access. Lower-income people in rural areas face even more limitations.
5) Extra Work for the Provider- Providers then need to address these issues so that they can boost usage. First, they must implement cybersecurity protections to keep PHI safe. And they end up having to reassure patients that their data is safe despite their security concerns (Clark, 2021).
Overall, patient portals and other internet-based applications have great intentions to better the health of patients, however, due to the issues that can arise, health care organizations will have to make exceptions for patients who do not have internet access or who may have a cultural or religious objection to using the internet. Additionally, they must offer continuous training and guidance on how to use the applications that meet the needs of elderly or illiterate patients.
References:
Clark, M. (2021, December 22). The Surprising List of Disadvantages of Patient Portals — Etactics. Etactics | Revenue Cycle Software. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://etactics.com/blog/disadvantages-of-patient…
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