The American Health Information Management Association has created a patient portal toolkit providing guidance, opportunities and challenges for health information management professionals regarding portals and how to boost patient engagement.
The toolkit, which is free for AHIMA members, outlines patient portal trends such as using portals to provide remote healthcare services, personalization of portals and including patient-generated health data from wearables. It also offers definitions of types of patient portals, ways to approach portal selection and implementation, guidance on training and sample portal user agreements, among others.
"We're witnessing a profound shift in the level of engagement patients have with their own healthcare," said Lynne Thomas Gordon, CEO of AHIMA. "When patients have more access to their health information, they can make more informed decisions. Patient portals are a critical component in connecting patients with their health data. With this toolkit, AHIMA provides guidance for the healthcare community on how to provide access while ensuring the information is accurate, private and secure."
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