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Every healthcare practice aims to keep patients happy, informed, and engaged in their care. Having a dedicated client portal makes this simple: giving your patients an online area where they can securely access their health information, manage bookings, track treatments, pay bills, and communicate with health providers via any device, 24/7.
A comprehensive patient portal brings a lot of value to your practice, ultimately allowing you to:
- Improve patient access to medical information
- Enhance patient-provider communication
- Increase patient engagement
- Reduce administration tasks
- Improve patient care
- Cut operational and admin costs
- Enhance patient satisfaction
Ready to learn how you can make the most of of a patient portal? Let’s explore the benefits of patient portals and discover how you can meet patients’ needs, while also ensuring more efficiency and automation for your business.
1. Improved access to medical information
Just like online banking gives users online access to their banking data, a client portal grants patients direct online access to their patient data.
58% of medical practitioners already connect with their patients via mobile-optimized patient portals, and there’s a good reason for this. With a client portal, patients are much less likely to have to call your practice with questions or make unnecessary visits.
Instead, they’ll have direct, online access to all their medical data as and when they need it, including lab test results, treatment plans, up-to-date medical history, and more. In just a few clicks, they’ll be able to ask for prescription refills, fill in consent forms, update patient health records, pay for treatments, and book at their convenience.
Giving patients online access to their personal health information eliminates the need for paperwork, reduces wait times, and ensures a more convenient experience.
2. Enhanced communication with care providers
A patient portal isn’t just about conveniently accessing patient information. It’s also about streamlining patient communication. With a client portal in place, your clients won’t have to wait for ‘office hours’ to reach out. They can book appointments from any device, 24/7.
It’s a secure space to share real-time information to improve treatment experiences. Care teams can securely reach out to patients and send follow-up instructions, photos, and payment updates, leading to more favorable treatment outcomes and enhanced collaboration.
Communicating via a client portal also helps you respond faster, especially during emergencies. You can also ensure better care coordination, all the while saving your care team from repeating information time and time again.
3. Increased patient engagement
Years ago, engaging patients in their healthcare meant communicating with them via phone or asking them to visit your practice in person. This is less than ideal. Younger patients aren’t likely to pick up the phone and for older patients, unnecessary travel isn’t favorable. Plus, if you’re treating patients remotely, engaging them in person isn’t really an option.
Efficiency is key for patient engagement — ultimately, they want swift access to care and the ability to be treated remotely when needed. So, instead of having to swing by your medical practice, a client portal will allow your patients to access their electronic medical records, files, and payments conveniently, on any device.
They can securely book, reschedule, or cancel appointments, read follow-up care instructions, and see any documents you’ve shared such as treatment notes, treatment progress photos, and medical or consent forms, all in one secure location.
With their entire journey available online, patients will become more interested and more engaged in their treatments. For your practice, this means improved patient communication, fewer no-shows, and more day-to-day efficiency, without the stress.
4. Reduced administrative burden
Reducing the hassle of paperwork and administrative tasks is among the biggest benefits of patient portals. Patient portals make it easy for patients to update their information, manage claims, or handle bills online, reducing the need for extra documentation.
For one, if you have all your forms completed in a client portal, ahead of the appointment, that’s one less administrative task to be done on the day when a client arrives.
Additionally, portals help automate tasks like scheduling appointments, invoicing and maintaining up to date client records. This not only accelerates the patient experience but also means less manual work for your staff.
Instantly, your team doesn’t have to do things like issue invoices manually. A portal automates it, freeing up time for staff to focus more on providing excellent care to patients.
5. Improved care coordination
Patient portals make it easy for healthcare providers like doctors and specialists to share information. This improves coordination of care, ensuring patients get the best treatment.
For instance, a lab technician can use the portal to share the patient’s blood test results, whereas the patient’s specialist can leave a follow-up care note based on those results.
All information shared on the patient portal is secure and available for every healthcare provider that cares for that patient, leading to improved patient outcomes and care transparency, while reducing the risk of errors and duplicate testing.
Keep in mind that 40% of patients said they were unaware that their provider offers a patient portal. To maximize its impact, you’ll need to get the word out first by promoting the availability of your online patient portal.
6. Cost savings
Patient portals go beyond accessibility.
For healthcare practices and clinics, they can provide a cost-effective solution that potentially saves businesses $89.73 per patient over three years. Portals are a savvy financial move for businesses that want an automated paperless experience that helps you save on staff overheads, invoicing documentation, and physical record storage.
A portal is also budget-friendly for patients, allowing them to check test results, request prescription refills, pay bills, and get appointment reminders online, eliminating the need for making extra calls or costly trips to your practice.
In an era of rising healthcare costs, patients want (and expect) to engage with their healthcare providers in a hassle-free way, as and when they need to, which ultimately makes online portals great value for their healthcare investment.
7. Increased patient satisfaction
Patient portals also play a pivotal role in enhancing client satisfaction.
Patients can conveniently access appointment reminders, track medical treatments, and manage forms and payments online at any time. This eliminates the need for frequent phone calls and ensures patients stay well-informed about recent treatment changes.
Clients can utilize the portal to access medical information, receive secure messages from healthcare providers, and seamlessly handle appointments. With the portal operating 24/7, clients have the flexibility to manage tasks at their own pace. By providing control, security, and online convenience, you can elevate client satisfaction, and reduce calls and in-person visits, all the while keeping clients informed about every health aspect.
Remember, 92% of patients believe digital solutions are vital for boosting their experience, and an all-inclusive portal can be a superb asset in meeting those needs.
Boost patient engagement with Pabau’s patient portal feature
The benefits of a patient portal are undeniable — your practice can engage and retain patients faster, boost operational efficiency, and scale faster than before.
The good news is, Pabau has one of the most robust patient portals around, enabling clients to self-manage every aspect of their patient journey — from securely tracking lab test results to paying bills, updating electronic health records (EHR), and more.
Navigating patient healthcare has never been easier. Pabau offers unique features where clients can book 24/7 and reschedule and cancel appointments. Everything they need, be it medical forms, treatment plans, appointment history, or before-and-after photos (flagged for sensitivity, too!), is accessible entirely online, for added convenience and cost savings.
Pabau’s client portal helps your practice glow and your clientele grow — if you’d like to see it in action, book a demo today to learn how!
