The most time-consuming thing in a doctor's day is usually the documenting and reporting of the initial patient encounter. You have to make sure you get all the pertinent patient history and information that allows you to report for their coverage as to why that patient is seeing you (such as auto accident or workers' comp). You need the examination and treatment information that lets you report medical necessity, and lets you track and report their care and progress. In the utopian world, that patient would walk in and you would automatically have all that information ready in your electronic file. Well, a good part of this is reality now! Enter the new age of patient portals.

What Is a Patient Portal?

A patient portal is a HIPAA-compliant, secure place where patients can log in over the Internet and submit and look up information that relates to them. It is a very important way for them to help communicate to their doctors why they are coming to see them. It saves the DC a lot of time, minimizes the errors due to translating and duplication of input, and finally, provides an electronic connection of communication between doctor and patient.

Patient Set-Up

WriteTouch connects doctors to their patients and allows patients to fill out forms online over the Internet before they come in to see you. Many doctors' first reactions are usually twofold: "My patient can't do it," or, "I already have forms on my Web site." Let me address this.

1. In 2004 and 2005, approximately 5 million and then 6 million patients, respectively, did some of this for the first time. The numbers are not in yet for 2006. While many patients may not all be able to get on the Internet and fill out information such as health history, auto accident, or Oswestry, many are able to "point and click," and many are able to type.
2. This technology is not where the patient information is re-input by either staff or the doctor into the record. Current doctors' Web sites have patients download a form and handwrite the information for input into a system. Some doctors have online forms that a patient can type into, and then that information is in essence cut and pasted into the doctor record.

Using WriteTouch, patients can actually set up the patient record, which places their patient file in the doctor's WritePad EMR system. All of the patient's inputs are automatically transferred into respective screens, just as if the doctor clicked the information in. Thus, all that input is already done and saved in an electronic format for the doctor to review, edit if needed, and then continue on with the exam for reporting purposes.

Years in Development

Addison Health Systems Inc (AHS) has spent more than 10 years of program and content development to provide the WriteTouch Patient Portal to chiropractors and other specialties. The WriteTouch interfaces with AHS' WritePad using our WriteLinksTM XML transfer technology. Many years of research, design, programming, and testing have gone into this development to provide this capability to doctors.

Patient portals such as WriteTouch minimize errors due to translating and duplication of input, and provide an electronic connection of communication between doctor and patient.

Safety and Encryption

The WriteTouch Internet service is written in the latest Microsoft .Net language and employs secure SSL encryption used by the federal government. For all communication between the WritePad software at a clinic and the WriteTouch server, there is a three-part handshake and verification process. Each transmission in the handshake process is encrypted minimally with a 64-bit encryption; and any clinic-specific data exchanged between WritePad and the WriteTouch server is further encrypted prior to transmission with a 256-bit cipher. This provides the highest form of protection, and if someone other than the clinic—which has WritePad—captures any data, it would look like garbage.

Another important point is that there is no patient-identifier information in any of the clinical-related data. All information is transferable using standard XML and employs the continuity of care record (CCR) capability for future transference between systems.

Customizable Capability

The WriteTouch allows a clinic to customize and create its own screens in WritePad to be uploaded to AHS' servers for patient input. That is important in that many doctors have their own forms they want to use and, as things change in health care, you are able to change your screens appropriately.

This also means that you can customize your screens into any different language appropriately for your patient population.

Resources

The WriteTouch allows any clinic to tap into the established resources AHS has invested in, such as hardware servers, necessary tools for linking to patients' computers, and programming. This provides you many years and millions of dollars for investment that you can readily take advantage of to streamline your office and connect to your patients.

Doctor/Patient Connection

Connecting to your patients provides you many benefits, such as:

• the ability of WritePad users to upload their customized screens to the Internet;
• the ability of WritePad users to send an e-mail to patients asking that they visit WriteTouch and complete the online forms;
• the ability of users (patients) to create accounts and complete forms online;
• the ability of users (patients) to save an encrypted copy of their WriteTouch data for later review/use in subsequent WriteTouch sessions;
• the ability of clinics to automatically receive their patients' results from the WriteTouch server;
• the savings of paper, handling of paper, and printing materials such as printers and toners, and time savings in filing and pulling charts; and
• the savings of the doctor's expensive time and possible errors in translating between doctor and patient. (The savings of time relates into hours per week per doctor and staff.)

Finally, an electronic connection between doctor and patient opens up a new world of efficiency and communication. You will be better able to communicate about missed appointments, educational information relating specifically to a patient's condition, follow-up on home therapy, and patient referrals. The WriteTouch will save the doctor and staff a lot of time, and will increase patient retention and compliance.

Greg Winterkamp is owner/CEO and founder of Addison Health Systems Inc, Addison, Tex. Contact him at .