You Have a Patient Portal, Now What?

You heard of all the benefits. You want your patients to get more involved in their health & know their health stats. And finally, you’ve signed up for a patient portal. So now that you have a patient portal to better serve your patients, what do you do next?

If you feel like you’re stuck at square one, read our steps on how to get the ball rolling on implementing your new patient portal into your practice and releasing it out to your patients.

1.       Know the Ropes.

As with any new technology that’s added to your medical practice there are always a few learning curves. The first is an internal, staff/team learning curve and the second is the outward patient learning curve. More often than not the first learning curve, getting your team trained on the new technology, is the biggest feat.

Yes, it will take time out of your already busy schedule to master another tool and implement it into your daily office routine, but if your team doesn’t at least know the ropes to some of the most common functions in your new technology, you’ll stay at square one. In result, eventually making your technology investment obsolete. Take it from us, technology isn’t always easy but spending some time in the beginning to truly know the ropes will benefit you down the road.

2.       Show, Tell, Go.

Everybody knows the famous saying, “Build it and they will come,” and although it makes an epic movie line, it does not hold true in terms of business. Just because you purchased, implemented and learned a new technology doesn’t mean your patients will understand all the time, money and work that has gone into this new tool. Even if you have a sign promoting your new technology in your patient waiting area, patients aren’t going to automatically start using it either (although a sign is a great start). In today’s overly connected society it’s harder than ever to truly motivate people to action, so you need multiple methods of outreach to truly get patients to start logging in.

As we said, a sign is a great start, but you’ve got to back up your new technology and give your patients some credibility as to why this patient portal is such a great addition. To do this, follow these three tried-and-true steps for getting your patient base on board with a new product:

• Show: Introduce your patients to the new technology. This can be an email blast, in-office posters, a take-home postcard or a mixture of advertising items. You need to first increase the ‘buzz’ or awareness that this new product exists so your patients know about it.
• Tell: This step is the easiest, cheapest and most effective way to get your patients onboard – simply TELL them about the patient portal. Both you and your team can do this, providing patients the opportunity to ask questions and start a dialogue around this new product.
• Go: This step is simple, but often missed. Now that you’ve promoted and directly told your patients about the patient portal, you need to USE it. Follow through with your word and GO forward with using the patient portal in your everyday workflow. Actions speak louder than words, and if you use it, your patients will follow suit.

3.       Be Ready for Compliments…and Complaints.

It may not be that day or that week or even that month after your patient portal launches, but at some point, you’ll hear many patients compliment your new technology.

And then, you’ll hear complaints.

With any new technology, some will love it and some will hate it. Remember: This is normal. As different as each one of your patient’s health is, so are their preferences. They each have their own favored communication style, so while some will be early adopters of the new technology others will never adopt it at all. Take it with a grain of salt and move on. There’s no one-size-fits-all for patient health and the same goes for office communication. What matters is that it’s working for a majority of your patients and if it has provided some positive benefits such as easier appointment request for patients, easier collections, increased patient-provider communication – then it’s been a worthwhile investment.

Adding a new technology to your office isn’t easy. Between learning it, launching it and then promoting it to your patients, there are many obstacles to overcome. But with persistence, you can make your new patient portal work for you bringing efficiency to your office and easier communication to your patients. Resulting in success all around.

Interested in a patient portal? Contact our team for a free demo or to find out more.