Thousands enroll in Island Health’s Patient Portal
Patients who are looking to see lab results, check in with their doctor, make appointments or pay bills will now have an easier time doing so, according to staff at Island Health.
Over the past couple of months, the health organization launched a new, updated and more user friendly Patient Portal, which leaders say will help put the focus on the needs of both patients and providers.
Between June 1, when the new portal debuted, and July 28, an additional 3,786 people signed up for the Patient Portal, hospital CEO Elise Cutter said. That brings the total of active portal users to 26,555, she said.
“One of the things that’s important to our organization is improved access,” Cutter said.
Part of that is bringing in additional doctors, improving the call times on incoming phone calls, and providing an electronic way to connect with records, registration and doctor communication, she said.
In April, Island Health moved from an in-house phone call center to a third-party company. Since then, the average time a person waits on hold has dropped from 5 minutes to 45 seconds.
People were upset they couldn’t reach their providers, so that issue been smoothed out now, Cutter said.
The Patient Portal is another piece of the puzzle. The portal was originally launched in 2014, but it wasn’t easy to use.
A recent relaunch makes the portal more user friendly and easier to sign up for, Cutter said. Everyone who comes in for an appointment has the chance to sign up right there, she said.
Other new functions include scheduling an appointment online, messaging doctors and including attachments (such as a log of blood pressure numbers) and seeing lab results very quickly, Island Health spokesperson Laura Moroney said.
Scheduling appointments online is a new addition and is only available for a few doctors right now, Moroney said. More doctors will be added in the next several weeks.
Patients can also preregister for their appointments via the portal, Moroney said. That way, they can fill out the paperwork and update any information, medications, allergies ahead of time. That saves time for the patient and for those who work at the clinics, Moroney said.
Between July 5 and 28, 1,724 people preregistered using the portal forms, she said.
In September, another feature addition will mean patients can virtually check-in for their appointments using the portal and won’t have to check in at the desk at all, Moroney said.
Also in September, classes at Island Health will guide users through the process of signing up and how to use the portal itself, Cutter said. Anyone who needs help can sign up for a slot, bring in their own device and an employee will walk them through how to do everything.
There remains the options of calling in to Island Health to make an appointment and for completing all paperwork and checking in by visiting the desk, Moroney said.
This isn’t taking away options or procedures, it’s just adding new ones, she said.
“You can look up your visitor summary and access your medical record, right at your fingertips,” Cutter said.
The goal is to make things as easy as possible, she said.
“We created access in a way that’s comfortable and easy for our patients,” she said.
This process has been led by an interdepartmental team that focused on things from a patient perspective, she said.
Patients can sign up for help at islandhealth.org/event/portal-support.
For information, visit islandhealth.org/patient-portal.
Published on August 18, 2022