The Positive Impact Of Patient Portals On Health Outcomes

Patient portals for healthcare can positively influence patients’ overall health, as many recent studies have found (1). The positive impact of patient portals includes improved patient-provider communication, enhanced overall wellness management, and better health behaviors (2, 3).

These important patient portal benefits are precisely why Bridge Portal is the flagship module of the BridgeInteract patient engagement platform. This article explores the positive impact of patient portals on health outcomes according to the latest data, as well as what healthcare organizations can do to make the most out of them.

Jump to:

• What Is A Patient Portal?
• Patient Portal Benefits: Improving Patient-Provider Communication
• Positive Impact Of Patient Portals On Overall Wellness Management
• Patient Portal Benefits: Enhancing Preventive Health Behaviors
• Why Healthcare Organizations Should Implement Patient Portals

What Is A Patient Portal?

A patient portal is a secure online platform that allows patients to access and manage their healthcare information. These portals provide features like viewing medical records, scheduling appointments, requesting prescription refills, and communicating directly with healthcare providers. Patient portals have become a cornerstone of modern healthcare by serving as a digital front door to essential health data and services, empowering patients to take a more active role in their health management.

Patient Portal Benefits: Improving Patient-Provider Communication

Patient portals facilitate patient engagement and improve outcomes for patients and care partners. Healthcare providers who use a patient portal solution recognize its ability to engage patients in their care, facilitate stronger patient-provider communication, and increase access to healthcare information.

Patient portals for healthcare organizations also help patients seek care for non-critical issues, such as routine check-ups or medication refills. Virtual tools like online messaging or telemedicine enable these services, freeing up in-person consultations for patients with more acute needs. In fact, bidirectional patient messaging is the most commonly used feature in the BridgeInteract patient portal solution.

A recent report found that 70% of healthcare CEOs surveyed by Accenture were focused on catering to the “Consumer Patient”, who expects to communicate digitally with their healthcare providers and access a level of digital convenience that they enjoy in other sectors, such as e-commerce (4). Patients value convenience in healthcare, and the ability to communicate with providers outside of business hours is a significant benefit.

Positive Impact Of Patient Portals On Overall Wellness Management

Patient portals empower patients to take ownership of their health. For example, research shows that diabetic patients who use a patient portal, especially one with a mobile app, demonstrate better medication adherence and chronic disease management than those who do not (5). These tools enable patients to monitor their health on desktop and mobile platforms, improving outcomes.

Next-generation patient portals benefit patients and provide healthcare providers with critical advantages, such as the ability to identify medical errors and process patient population analytics for actionable insights. These improvements contribute to better patient outcomes and safety.

Patient Portal Benefits: Enhancing Preventive Health Behaviors

Studies show that advanced patient portals improve patient health behaviors. For example, portal users are more likely to engage in preventive health behaviors like annual flu vaccinations, blood pressure checks, and lipid level screenings than non-users. Another positive impact of patient portals pertains to patient education and psychological outcomes, such as decision-making confidence and self-efficacy, and behavioral outcomes, such as medication adherence and screening (6, 7).

Why Healthcare Organizations Should Implement Patient Portals

To sum up, patient portal benefits for healthcare organizations are numerous, including:

• Improved patient-provider communication.
• Increased convenience for non-critical care.
• Enhanced chronic disease management.
• Better preventive health behaviors.
• Reduced medical errors and improved patient outcomes.

Implementing a patient portal is critical to delivering better care and fostering a more engaged patient population. By adopting solutions like BridgeInteract and its core Bridge Portal module, healthcare providers can offer a next-generation patient portal that empowers patients while streamlining operations.

Thanks to BridgeInteract’s modular design, healthcare organizations can integrate their choice of digital tools, e.g., bill pay, appointment scheduling, telehealth, and others. These functionalities can be added when needed, and all tie seamlessly into the portal, improving patient engagement and provider efficiency across the board.

The result is a patient portal tailored to your needs and optimized to achieve the positive outcomes that are most important to your practice. Discover the difference and contact us for a personalized demo that shows how Bridge Portal can help your organization meet its goals.

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More resources:

• Exploring Digital Transformation In Healthcare
• How To Protect Patient Data In Your Patient Portal
• How A Digital Front Door Can Help You Keep Up With the Consumerization of Healthcare

References:

1. Adegoke, B. O., Odugbose, T., and Adeyemi, C. (2024) ‘Assessing the effectiveness of health informatics tools in improving patient-centered care: A critical review’, International Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research Updates, 2(2), pp. 1–11. Available at: Link. Accessed December 26, 2024.
2. Lu, X., and Zhang, R. (2019). Impact of Physician-Patient Communication in Online Health Communities on Patient Compliance: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(5), p.e12891. Available at: Link. Accessed December 26, 2024.
3. Carini E, Villani L, Pezzullo AM, Gentili A, Barbara A, Ricciardi W, Boccia S. (2021). The Impact of Digital Patient Portals on Health Outcomes, System Efficiency, and Patient Attitudes: Updated Systematic Literature Review. J Med Internet Res, 23(9):e26189. Available at: Link. Accessed December 26, 2024.
4. Accenture (n.d.) The rise of digital health. Available at: Link. (Accessed: 21 December 2024).
5. Graetz, I., Huang, J., Muelly, E. R., Fireman, B., Hsu, J., and Reed, M. E. (2020) ‘Association of mobile patient portal access with diabetes medication adherence and glycemic levels among adults with diabetes’, JAMA Network Open, 3(2), e1921429. Available at: Link. Accessed December 26, 2024.
6. Allende-Richter, S., Benitez, A. D., Ramirez, M., Liu, S., Gray, K. P., and Bourgeois, F. (2023) ‘A patient portal intervention to promote adolescent and young adult self-management skills’, Journal of Adolescent Health, 23(6), pp. 1252–1258. Available at: Link. Accessed December 26, 2024.
7. Johnson, A. M., Brimhall, A. S., Johnson, E. T., Hodgson, et al. (2023). A systematic review of the effectiveness of patient education through patient portals. JAMIA Open, 6(1). Available at: Link. Accessed December 26, 2024.