Patient Portal Development Guide: Features, Steps, and Cost

In today’s digital time, the medical industry is witnessing a transformative shift toward patient-centered care and improved engagement, and patient portals have emerged as a game-changer. Patient portals are becoming crucial means for healthcare organizations and patients for their engagement and coordinate care and to provide effective communication means for both parties. Patient Portal is an online platform that enables patients to access their medical records securely. Patients can view their reports, medical records, and appointment schedules, and also interact with their healthcare provider.

If you’re considering developing a patient portal for your healthcare organization, this guide explores the key features, cost and developmental steps of a Patient Portal. You can order the healthcare development services here https://111minutes.com/industries/healthcare

Essential Features of a Patient Portal

1. Easy access to medical information: Efficient portals enable patients and doctors to view medical records, reports, and extensive history to understand previous diagnoses and treatments. Lab results and medications are at one click distance.
2. Improved communication: Patients are able to communicate freely with their healthcare provider through secure messaging systems. Patient portals should provide a secure messaging system that allows patients to communicate with healthcare providers, ask questions, and receive answers.
3. Appointment management: Online scheduling or reminders are one click away from patients so that they miss no follow-up. They may make appointment requests, receive reminders, or set alternative dates.
4. Health information updates: Patients are able to update their histories and records, and inform about their allergies or other premorbid if any. They may update their immunization records.
5. Billing and financial features: online billing methods and receipts of previous billings make things go hassle-free. All billing records and updates must be 100% secure and confidential.
6. User authentication: Patient portals should be designed to ensure that only authorized users can access their medical records and other health information. Using secure login procedures, multi-factor authentication, and secure password recovery processes all information must be confidential.
7. Secure messaging: Patient portals should provide a secure messaging system that allows patients to communicate with healthcare providers, ask questions, and receive answers.
8. Prescription refills: Patients should be able to request prescription refills through the patient portal and receive notifications when the prescription is ready.

Steps Involved in Developing a Patient Portal

1. Clarify scope and requirements: The initial step in creating a patient portal entails clearly defining the project’s scope and identifying the essential features and requirements.
2. Select a development platform: The next stage involves choosing a suitable development platform and selecting the necessary technology stack, such as Java, .NET, or PHP, for constructing the patient portal.
3. Design the user interface: A crucial aspect is designing a user-friendly, visually appealing, and accessible user interface for the patient portal.
4. Develop the application: The development phase encompasses building the application utilizing the chosen technology stack, integrating it with third-party systems, and ensuring its security and scalability.
5. Test the application: Thorough testing is conducted to ensure the functionality, usability, performance, and security of the developed patient portal.
6. Deploy the application: The application is deployed on a secure server, and continuous maintenance and support are provided to ensure its smooth operation.

Cost of Patient Portal Development

The cost of developing a patient portal varies based on factors like project scope, technology stack, feature complexity, customization needs, team location and experience, and ongoing maintenance. Typically, the development cost ranges between $50,000 and $500,000. Despite the investment, patient portals offer substantial advantages for healthcare organizations, including enhanced patient engagement, care coordination, communication, improved health outcomes, and cost savings.

Conclusion

Patient portals have transformed the way patients engage with healthcare systems, offering convenient access to personal health information, streamlined communication with providers, and an array of beneficial features. Developing a patient portal involves defining the scope and requirements, choosing a development platform, designing the user interface, developing the application, testing the application, and deploying the application.

While the cost of developing a patient portal can vary depending on several factors, investing in a patient portal can bring significant benefits to healthcare organizations and ultimately improve patient outcomes.