Page 22 - 2021 Risk Reduction Series - Communication Part Two

SVMIC Risk Reduction Series: Communication

Additional benefits include allowing documented

communication to be easily incorporated into the patient’s chart
and allowing other providers to view communications between

patient and provider, and provider to provider. Physicians and
staff can work remotely while providing care to the patient using

real-time information.

Encourage patients to use the portal to communicate
medication refills, appointment reminders, and intake or

informed consent forms, allowing the patient sufficient time to
review the consent form prior to discussion with the physician.

In many lack of informed consent cases, the patient asserts
after-the-fact that he or she was not allowed adequate time

to review the form before signing it. Delivering the form to the
patient in advance of the procedure by using the portal could

be helpful in defending the provider against these types of
claims. Allowing the patient to review the forms in advance

on the portal, however, is no substitute for the discussion
and documentation of the discussion that must take place to

establish the patient’s informed consent.

The primary negative aspect of portals is that some patients

either cannot or will not use them for many reasons:

• They feel intimidated by the technology.

• They do not have access to a computer.

• They simply have no interest in taking advantage of the
system.

Practices should have a means of verifying that patients have

accessed the portal before utilizing it as the sole vehicle of
notification of normal non-sensitive results. In other words,

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