Raj Toleti

Patient portals have created a dilemma: nobody uses them. You’re probably thinking, “How do I get patients to use my portal?” You invested a great deal of time and money into the portal and expected great results.

We’re all familiar with old adage, “If you build it, they will come.” However, come they have not.

Patient Portals Are the Wired Internet of Healthcare Technology The patient portal concept sounded great when it first emerged; amazing, in fact. Clinicians got excited about it. Portals were a “shiny new thing.” But patient portals are akin to the wired internet.

Like the early-wired internet (remember those days?), patient portals introduced clinicians to a new of way communicating with patients beyond the walls of the hospital, office or lab. However, similar to the wired internet, patient portals keep patients and providers chained to their computer. But, mobility is vital for today’s on-the-go users.

The patient portal scenario left many healthcare professionals frustrated, scratching their heads. If research indicates that 90% of patients want access to their healthcare information online, then why aren’t those same patients rushing to set up portal accounts and more eager to log in?

Patient Portals Are Dead Like the wired internet, the era of legacy patient portal software is over. Patient portals are dead. Your patient portal was supposed to put more time and money in your pocket, and remove a significant burden from your practice or hospital system. Instead, it’s become as dusty as that old network cable sitting in your closet next to your old desktop computer.

Even practices that aggressively sell their portal barely reach 15% engagement. And, let’s be honest here: the practices that get that 15% engagement are likely the ones that chase down and sign up patients in the parking lot.

Here are the top four reasons why patient portals have failed.

Clinicians don’t have the experience, desire, or time in their busy days to convince patients on the value of adopting the portal. They got into healthcare to care for patients, not to sell portal software. Many current portal solutions are painfully difficult to use and fail to activate the patient. In this day and age, we’re bombarded by stimulation and providers struggle to capture patients’ attention or give them a reason to come back to the portal. Technology isn’t the only answer; it’s a means to an end. It’s how and why you use it that matters. Context makes things relevant and helps patients take the next step toward you. Patient portals don’t have any insights into the contextual state or goal of patients in order to engage them effectively. Consumers’ increased connectedness changes the patient journey, as well as their expectations and behaviors. Patient portals are not designed to leverage the consumers’ shift to mobile technology. It’s Time to Go Mobile If not patient portals, then what? It’s time to go mobile. Like our old wired internet, mobile communications (smartphones, tablets, watches – you name it) have truly changed the way the world communicates. And, your patients ARE not only using them, they are CONNECTING with friends, families, businesses and even basic healthcare “helpers.”

Phones are no longer just “phones.” Now they’re electronic windows into new worlds of people, information, connections, and things. Smartphones usher in new ways of connecting with patients and providers. The consumers’ increased connectedness changes the patient journey and their expectations and behaviors.

A Smarter Platform Instead of relying on patients to come to your solution, modern mobile health platforms are using push technology to initiate patient interactions and drastically increase engagement—to truly and meaningfully connect patients and providers in real exchanges. Patient schedules, medication lists, educational content, discharge instructions, and more are pushed to the patient and their care teams via secure messaging on any mobile device, when it counts the most. It’s about intelligent automation in ways that are relevant and meaningful to patients and their care teams throughout the care continuum, regardless of the care setting .

The hard facts are there – patient portals simply aren’t cutting it. They are obsolete. So will you continue pushing a platform that doesn’t work, or will you switch to a smarter mobile platform? If you want to turn patients into active, satisfied consumers, and MU2 requirements into dollars, read more about CareNotify and CareNarrative .

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About the Author: Raj Toleti is the co-founder and CEO of HealthGrid , the world's most advanced mobile health enterprise platform for hospital systems and clinicians. Raj is passionate about building innovative healthcare communication platforms that drive meaningful connections, interactions, interventions, and measurable value to all stakeholders. Follow him here by clicking the yellow FOLLOW button or on Twitter @Health_Grid .

Raj Toleti

Windermere, Florida, United States 3K followers 500+ connections

About

Experience

Andor Health

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Education

University of Central Florida

Languages

Hindhi, Telugu and English

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Windermere, Florida, United States

3K followers 500+ connections