Atlanta Women’s Specialists, an affiliate of Northside Hospital, has provided its patients with online access to a new personal health record.
“Some people have the impression that our online system and e-mail communication depersonalizes the doctor-patient relationship. In fact, it does just the opposite," said Maria Arias, a doctor at the clinic. "Patients contact me with questions that they aren’t comfortable asking face-to-face or questions they forgot to ask during an appointment. Sure, it means more work on my end, but when patients come back because they’re happy with our service, it’s worth it.”
Clinic officials are hoping to improve the lines of communication between physicians and their patients. The practice looks to achieve this by providing patients with online access to health information and via direct e-mail contact with physicians.
A 2009 Pew study shows that since 2000, the number of adults in the country who access health information online has risen by 36 percent. This increase, the study's authors say, is representative of the number of people who are comfortable with using the Internet and trust the information it provides. According to the study, these numbers also show that patients are interested in having and accessing their personal health information online.
Likewise, the Deloitte 2009 Survey of Healthcare Consumers indicatd 42 percent of people want to have access to online personal health records.
Atlanta Women’s Specialists' PHR, launched in 2004 on its Web site (www.AWSPHysicians.com), allows patients to access, view and print medical records and information via on online Web portal (MyHealthRecords). A patient can also use the portal to request prescription refills, e-mail a doctor or nurse and schedule appointments.
Sine the deployment of the portal, clinic officials say they've seen an increase in the number of patients going online to view health information. From 2006 to 2008, they said, patient account logins grew from 1,500 to more than 6,500.
The practice also has an electronic health record system. Implemented in 2002, the Allscripts Professional EHR has reportedly helped AWS reduce paper use and allowed doctors all-day access to patient health information. Doctors can view patient information while on call or from other offices or Northside Hospital.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study in 2008 stating that only 4 percent of all physicians in the United States have a fully functioning EHR system. The study found that of those using an EHR system, 83 percent said it improved clinical outcomes and 86 percent said it helped reduce medical errors.
AWS officials say they expect the new Web portal will encourage patients to play a more active role in their health.
