Letter from the BWPO Chairman
Dear colleagues,
Patients deeply value the opportunity to communicate in a timely manner with their clinicians. One of the most important challenges for clinicians is to use processes that enhance timely and thorough patient communication as efficiently as possible.
Patient Gateway is one means to help us communicate quickly and effectively with our patients, as well as to improve the efficiency of our practices. Patient Gateway is a secure online portal available throughout the Partners HealthCare network that is now used in almost all BWH primary care practices and many specialty practices.
Our patients have reported that they are more interested than ever in communicating with us electronically. Rather than play telephone tag with a patient awaiting results or advice, you or your staff can send a secure message.
Not only can patients communicate with your office through Patient Gateway, but they can also request referrals, appointments, prescription refills and view certain test results. All of this decreases the amount of time office staff are on the phone, which helps us operate more efficiently and enhance value and patient satisfaction.
And, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) provides clinicians and hospitals with a financial incentive for “meaningful use” of electronic health records. It’s not enough to simply be on Patient Gateway; we have to make sure that we’re using it to achieve specific improvements in care.
Patient Gateway also helps support improved management of populations of patients, which is becoming increasingly important. We know that with the changing health care landscape, much of our work going forward may involve managing groups of patients. Think of how efficient it would be to send a reminder to all the patients in your practice who need a flu vaccine with just a few clicks of the mouse.
If your practice currently uses Patient Gateway, please encourage your patients to sign up. If your practice has not yet implemented Patient Gateway, I encourage you to do so. Staff from the BWH LMR/Patient Gateway Team are available to assist practices in ensuring they not only are set up with Patient Gateway, but also that they have the proper workflow in place to get the most out of the portal. Please contact Karen Whitman or Richard Cushing if you’d like help getting your practice started on Patient Gateway.
Please make every effort to use this tool that not only helps increase efficiency and patient satisfaction, but also helps us improve the quality of care we deliver.
Sincerely,
Robert Barbieri, MD
Chairman, BWPO