Electronic Health Records For Dummies

Educating patients about accessing information

Your communication efforts don’t mean much if the patients don’t know they can access their health records and communicate with your practice online. Therefore, a vital component of this new patient-centered communication system is helping patients understand how they can access their PHI and use the EHR tools you designate to communicate with physicians and practice staff members. You can

Dedicate some space on your practice’s Web site to discussing communication options.

Provide patients with examples of the “best” reasons for an e-visit.

Make sure that all your staff appropriately encourage/educate patients about their communication options.

Create materials, such as flyers, handouts, and signs, to remind patients about such services as secure messaging, e-visits, and patient portals.

Be clear and describe the process for how patients can start using e-visits and secure messaging. Tell patients they can

• Talk with staff and their doctor about secure messaging.

• Review the guidelines and privacy and security measures.

• Log in from home and start communicating.

One of the simplest ways you can educate patients about their communication options is to use the face time you already have. When you’re in front of the computer with the patient for the first time, use that as an opportunity to discuss how the patient can access the same information that you do. Show them what their health records look like onscreen and walk them through ...